Sample records for ireland glacial refugia

North American tree species, subspecies and genetic varieties have primarily evolved in a landscape of extensive continental ice and restricted temperate climate environments. Here, we reconstruct the refugial history of western North American trees since the last glacial maximum using species distribution models, validated against 3571 palaeoecological records. We investigate how modern subspecies structure and genetic diversity corresponds to modelled glacialrefugia, based on a meta-analysis of allelic richness and expected heterozygosity for 473 populations of 22 tree species. We find that species with strong genetic differentiation into subspecies had widespread and large glacialrefugia, whereas species with restricted refugia show no differentiation among populations and little genetic diversity, despite being common over a wide range of environments today. In addition, a strong relationship between allelic richness and the size of modelled glacialrefugia (r(2) = 0.55) suggest that population bottlenecks during glacial periods had a pronounced effect on the presence of rare alleles. PMID:25761711

North American tree species, subspecies and genetic varieties have primarily evolved in a landscape of extensive continental ice and restricted temperate climate environments. Here, we reconstruct the refugial history of western North American trees since the last glacial maximum using species distribution models, validated against 3571 palaeoecological records. We investigate how modern subspecies structure and genetic diversity corresponds to modelled glacialrefugia, based on a meta-analysis of allelic richness and expected heterozygosity for 473 populations of 22 tree species. We find that species with strong genetic differentiation into subspecies had widespread and large glacialrefugia, whereas species with restricted refugia show no differentiation among populations and little genetic diversity, despite being common over a wide range of environments today. In addition, a strong relationship between allelic richness and the size of modelled glacialrefugia (r2 = 0.55) suggest that population bottlenecks during glacial periods had a pronounced effect on the presence of rare alleles. PMID:25761711

Although there is evidence from molecular studies for the existence of central European last glacialrefugia for temperate species, there is still a great lack of direct fossil records to confirm this theory. Here we bring such evidence in the form of fossil shells from twenty strictly forest land snail species, which were recorded in radiocarbon-dated late glacial or older mollusc assemblages of nine non-interrupted mollusc successions situated in the Western Carpathians, and one in the Bohemian Massif. We proposed that molluscs survived the last glacial period in central Europe in isolated small patches of broadleaf forest, which we unequivocally demonstrate for two sites of last glacial maximum age.

The Pleistocene climatic fluctuations had a huge impact on all life forms, and various hypotheses regarding the survival of organisms during glacial periods have been postulated. In the European Alps, evidence has been found in support of refugia outside the ice shield (massifs de refuge) acting as sources for postglacial recolonization of inner-Alpine areas. In contrast, evidence for survival on nunataks, ice-free areas above the glacier, remains scarce. Here, we combine multivariate genetic analyses with ecological niche models (ENMs) through multiple timescales to elucidate the history of Alpine Megabunus harvestmen throughout the ice ages, a genus that comprises eight high-altitude endemics. ENMs suggest two types of refugia throughout the last glacial maximum, inner-Alpine survival on nunataks for four species and peripheral refugia for further four species. In some geographic regions, the patterns of genetic variation are consistent with long-distance dispersal out of massifs de refuge, repeatedly coupled with geographic parthenogenesis. In other regions, long-term persistence in nunataks may dominate the patterns of genetic divergence. Overall, our results suggest that glacial cycles contributed to allopatric diversification in Alpine Megabunus, both within and at the margins of the ice shield. These findings exemplify the power of ENM projections coupled with genetic analyses to identify hypotheses about the position and the number of glacialrefugia and thus to evaluate the role of Pleistocene glaciations in driving species-specific responses of recolonization or persistence that may have contributed to observed patterns of biodiversity. PMID:27037513

Archaeozoological finds of the remains of marine and amphihaline fish from the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) ca. 21 ka ago show evidence of very different species ranges compared to the present. Recent genetic results of some marine species also indicate the presence of a local population structure that further suggests a dramatic southward displacement of species ranges during the LGM. There are very few studies that have attempted to delimit the glacialrefugia of marine fish from our present understanding of LGM climate conditions. The few studies that exist make predictions that may not agree with the data from archaeozoology and genetics. In this contribution, we show how an ecological niche model based on sea surface temperature and bathymetry can be used to effectively predict the spatial range of marine fish during the LGM. The results are startling especially for the northern species because the glacialrefugia are almost completely displaced from the modern distribution. The results are important for understanding the present spatial genetic structure of marine populations that arose during the Pleistocene glaciations, and they present a challenge for future archaeozoological work to test the model predictions and delimit the glacialrefugia.

Phylogeographic studies give us the opportunity to reconstruct the historical migrations of species and link them with climatic and geographic variation. They are, therefore, a key tool to understanding the relationships among biology, geology and history. One of the most interesting biogeographical areas of the world is the Mediterranean region. However, in this area, the description of concordant phylogeographic patterns is quite scarce, which limits the understanding of evolutionary patterns related to climate. Species with one-dimensional distribution ranges, such as the strawberry tree (Arbutus unedo), are particularly useful to unravel these patterns. Here, we describe its phylogeographic structure and check for concordance with patterns seen in other Mediterranean plants: longitudinal/latitudinal clines of diversity, evidence for glacialrefugia and the role of sea straits in dispersal. We also identify the most likely source for the disjunct Irish population. With this aim, we sequenced four chloroplast non-coding fragments of A. unedo from 23 populations covering its whole distribution. We determined the genetic diversity, population structure, haplotype genealogy and time to the most recent common ancestor. The genealogy revealed two clades that separated during the last 700 ky but before the last glacial maximum. One clade occupies Atlantic Iberia and North Africa, while the other occurs in the Western Mediterranean. The Eastern Mediterranean is inhabited by newer haplotypes derived from both clades, while the Irish population is closely related to Iberian demes. The straits of Sicily and Gibraltar partially restricted the gene flow. We concluded that a vicariance event during the Late Quaternary in the western end of the species' range followed by eastward migration seems a likely explanation for the observed phylogeographic pattern. The role of straits indicates an occasional communication between Europe and North Africa, suggesting that the latter was

Phylogeographic studies give us the opportunity to reconstruct the historical migrations of species and link them with climatic and geographic variation. They are, therefore, a key tool to understanding the relationships among biology, geology and history. One of the most interesting biogeographical areas of the world is the Mediterranean region. However, in this area, the description of concordant phylogeographic patterns is quite scarce, which limits the understanding of evolutionary patterns related to climate. Species with one-dimensional distribution ranges, such as the strawberry tree (Arbutus unedo), are particularly useful to unravel these patterns. Here, we describe its phylogeographic structure and check for concordance with patterns seen in other Mediterranean plants: longitudinal/latitudinal clines of diversity, evidence for glacialrefugia and the role of sea straits in dispersal. We also identify the most likely source for the disjunct Irish population. With this aim, we sequenced four chloroplast non-coding fragments of A. unedo from 23 populations covering its whole distribution. We determined the genetic diversity, population structure, haplotype genealogy and time to the most recent common ancestor. The genealogy revealed two clades that separated during the last 700 ky but before the last glacial maximum. One clade occupies Atlantic Iberia and North Africa, while the other occurs in the Western Mediterranean. The Eastern Mediterranean is inhabited by newer haplotypes derived from both clades, while the Irish population is closely related to Iberian demes. The straits of Sicily and Gibraltar partially restricted the gene flow. We concluded that a vicariance event during the Late Quaternary in the western end of the species' range followed by eastward migration seems a likely explanation for the observed phylogeographic pattern. The role of straits indicates an occasional communication between Europe and North Africa, suggesting that the latter was

Brown bears are recorded from Ireland during both the Late Pleistocene and early-mid Holocene. Although most of the Irish landmass was covered by an ice sheet during the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM), Irish brown bears are known to have hybridized with polar bears during the Late Pleistocene, and it is suggested that the Irish brown bear population did not become extinct but instead persisted in situ through the LGM in a southwestern ice-free refugium. We use historical population modelling to demonstrate that brown bears are highly unlikely to have survived through the LGM in Ireland under any combination of life-history parameters shown by living bear populations, but instead would have rapidly become extinct following advance of the British-Irish ice sheet, and probably recolonized Ireland during the end-Pleistocene Woodgrange Interstadial from a closely related nearby source population. The time available for brown bear-polar bear hybridization was therefore restricted to narrow periods at the beginning or end of the LGM. Brown bears would have been extremely vulnerable to extinction in Quaternary habitat refugia and required areas substantially larger than southwestern Ireland to survive adverse glacial conditions. PMID:23676655

Here, we examine the evidence for tree refugia in northern Europe during the Late Pleniglacial (LPG) interval of maximum tree-range contraction. Our review highlights the often equivocal nature of genetic data and a tendency to overestimate potential tree distributions due to warm climate-model bias, and also reveals a convergence of macrofossil and pollen evidence. What emerges is the absence of temperate trees north of 45°N and a west-east (W-E) asymmetry in boreal tree distribution, with a treeless Western Europe north of 46°N, while restricted boreal populations persisted in Eastern Europe up to 49°N, and higher latitudes east of the Fennoscandian ice-sheet. These results have implications for current thinking on European genetic diversity patterns, species migration capacity, and conservation strategies. PMID:24091207

Although only relatively few freshwater invertebrate families are reported from the Tibetan Plateau, the degree of endemism may be high. Many endemic lineages occur within permafrost areas, raising questions about the existence of isolated intra-plateau glacialrefugia. Moreover, if such refugia existed, it might be instructive to learn whether they were associated with lakes or with more dynamic ecosystems such as ponds, wetlands, or springs. To study these hypotheses, we used pulmonate snails of the plateau-wide distributed genus Radix as model group and the Lake Donggi Cona drainage system, located in the north-eastern part of the plateau, as model site. First, we performed plateau-wide phylogenetic analyses using mtDNA data to assess the overall relationships of Radix populations inhabiting the Lake Donggi Cona system for revealing refugial lineages. We then conducted regional phylogeographical analyses applying a combination of mtDNA and nuclear AFLP markers to infer the local structure and demographic history of the most abundant endemic Radix clade for identifying location and type of (sub-)refugia within the drainage system. Our phylogenetic analysis showed a high diversity of Radix lineages in the Lake Donggi Cona system. Subsequent phylogeographical analyses of the most abundant endemic clade indicated a habitat-related clustering of genotypes and several Late Pleistocene spatial/demographic expansion events. The most parsimonious explanation for these patterns would be a scenario of an intra-plateau glacial refugium in the Lake Donggi Cona drainage system, which might have consisted of isolated sub-refugia. Though the underlying processes remain unknown, an initial separation of lake and watershed populations could have been triggered by lake-level fluctuations before and during the Last Glacial Maximum. This study inferred the first intra-plateau refugium for freshwater animals on the Tibetan Plateau. It thus sheds new light on the evolutionary history

Although only relatively few freshwater invertebrate families are reported from the Tibetan Plateau, the degree of endemism may be high. Many endemic lineages occur within permafrost areas, raising questions about the existence of isolated intra-plateau glacialrefugia. Moreover, if such refugia existed, it might be instructive to learn whether they were associated with lakes or with more dynamic ecosystems such as ponds, wetlands, or springs. To study these hypotheses, we used pulmonate snails of the plateau-wide distributed genus Radix as model group and the Lake Donggi Cona drainage system, located in the north-eastern part of the plateau, as model site. First, we performed plateau-wide phylogenetic analyses using mtDNA data to assess the overall relationships of Radix populations inhabiting the Lake Donggi Cona system for revealing refugial lineages. We then conducted regional phylogeographical analyses applying a combination of mtDNA and nuclear AFLP markers to infer the local structure and demographic history of the most abundant endemic Radix clade for identifying location and type of (sub-)refugia within the drainage system. Our phylogenetic analysis showed a high diversity of Radix lineages in the Lake Donggi Cona system. Subsequent phylogeographical analyses of the most abundant endemic clade indicated a habitat-related clustering of genotypes and several Late Pleistocene spatial/demographic expansion events. The most parsimonious explanation for these patterns would be a scenario of an intra-plateau glacial refugium in the Lake Donggi Cona drainage system, which might have consisted of isolated sub-refugia. Though the underlying processes remain unknown, an initial separation of lake and watershed populations could have been triggered by lake-level fluctuations before and during the Last Glacial Maximum. This study inferred the first intra-plateau refugium for freshwater animals on the Tibetan Plateau. It thus sheds new light on the evolutionary history

Over the years, researchers have used presumptively neutral molecular variation to infer the origins of current species' distributions in northern latitudes (especially Europe). However, several reported examples of genic and chromosomal replacements suggest that end-glacial colonizations of particular northern areas may have involved genetic input from different source populations at different times, coupled with competition and selection. We investigate the functional consequences of differences between two bank vole (Clethrionomys glareolus) haemoglobins deriving from different glacialrefugia, one of which partially replaced the other in Britain during end-glacial climate warming. This allows us to examine their adaptive divergence and hence a possible role of selection in the replacement. We determine the amino acid substitution Ser52Cys in the major expressed β-globin gene as the allelic difference. We use structural modelling to reveal that the protein environment renders the 52Cys thiol a highly reactive functional group and we show its reactivity in vitro. We demonstrate that possessing the reactive thiol in haemoglobin increases the resistance of bank vole erythrocytes to oxidative stress. Our study thus provides striking evidence for physiological differences between products of genic variants that spread at the expense of one another during colonization of an area from different glacialrefugia. PMID:24827438

Background and Aims Distribution shifts and natural selection during past climatic changes are important factors in determining the genetic structure of forest species. In particular, climatic fluctuations during the Quaternary appear to have caused changes in the distribution ranges of plants, and thus strongly affected their genetic structure. This study was undertaken to identify the responses of the conifer Cryptomeria japonica, endemic to the Japanese Archipelago, to past climatic changes using a combination of phylogeography and species distribution modelling (SDM) methods. Specifically, this study focused on the locations of refugia during the last glacial maximum (LGM). Methods Genetic diversity and structure were examined using 20 microsatellite markers in 37 populations of C. japonica. The locations of glacialrefugia were assessed using STRUCTURE analysis, and potential habitats under current and past climate conditions were predicted using SDM. The process of genetic divergence was also examined using the approximate Bayesian computation procedure (ABC) in DIY ABC to test the divergence time between the gene pools detected by the STRUCTURE analysis. Key Results STRUCTURE analysis identified four gene pools: northern Tohoku district; from Chubu to Chugoku district; from Tohoku to Shikoku district on the Pacific Ocean side of the Archipelago; and Yakushima Island. DIY ABC analysis indicated that the four gene pools diverged at the same time before the LGM. SDM also indicated potential northern cryptic refugia. Conclusions The combined evidence from microsatellites and SDM clearly indicates that climatic changes have shaped the genetic structure of C. japonica. The gene pool detected in northern Tohoku district is likely to have been established by cryptic northern refugia on the coast of the Japan Sea to the west of the Archipelago. The gene pool in Yakushima Island can probably be explained simply by long-term isolation from the other gene pools since

Human populations, along with those of many other species, are thought to have contracted into a number of refuge areas at the height of the last Ice Age. European populations are believed to be, to a large extent, the descendants of the inhabitants of these refugia, and some extant mtDNA lineages can be traced to refugia in Franco-Cantabria (haplogroups H1, H3, V, and U5b1), the Italian Peninsula (U5b3), and the East European Plain (U4 and U5a). Parts of the Near East, such as the Levant, were also continuously inhabited throughout the Last Glacial Maximum, but unlike western and eastern Europe, no archaeological or genetic evidence for Late Glacial expansions into Europe from the Near East has hitherto been discovered. Here we report, on the basis of an enlarged whole-genome mitochondrial database, that a substantial, perhaps predominant, signal from mitochondrial haplogroups J and T, previously thought to have spread primarily from the Near East into Europe with the Neolithic population, may in fact reflect dispersals during the Late Glacial period, ∼19–12 thousand years (ka) ago. PMID:22560092

The contemporary distribution and genetic composition of biodiversity bear a signature of species' evolutionary histories and the effects of past climatic oscillations. For many European species, the Mediterranean peninsulas of Iberia, Italy and the Balkans acted as glacialrefugia and the source of range recolonization, and as a result, they contain disproportionately high levels of diversity. As these areas are particularly threatened by future climate change, it is important to understand how past climatic changes affected their biodiversity. We use an integrated approach, combining markers with different evolutionary rates and combining phylogenetic analysis with approximate Bayesian computation and species distribution modelling across temporal scales. We relate phylogeographic processes to patterns of genetic variation in Myotis escalerai, a bat species endemic to the Iberian Peninsula. We found a distinct population structure at the mitochondrial level with a strong geographic signature, indicating lineage divergence into separate glacialrefugia within the Iberian refugium. However, microsatellite markers suggest higher levels of gene flow resulting in more limited structure at recent time frames. The evolutionary history of M. escalerai was shaped by the effects of climatic oscillations and changes in forest cover and composition, while its future is threatened by climatically induced range contractions and the role of ecological barriers due to competition interactions in restricting its distribution. This study warns that Mediterranean peninsulas, which provided refuge for European biodiversity during past glaciation events, may become a trap for limited dispersal and ecologically limited endemic species under future climate change, resulting in loss of entire lineages. PMID:26346923

Glacialrefugia considerably shaped the phylogeographical structure of species and may influence intra-specific morphological, genetic, and adaptive differentiation. However, the impact of the Quaternary ice ages on the phylogeographical structure of North American temperate mammalian species is not well-studied. Here, we surveyed ∼1600 individuals of the widely distributed woodland caribou (Rangifer tarandus caribou) using mtDNA control region sequences to investigate if glacialrefugia contributed to the phylogeographical structure in this subspecies. Phylogenetic tree reconstruction, a median-joining network, and mismatch distributions supported postglacial expansions of woodland caribou from three glacialrefugia dating back to 13544–22005 years. These three lineages consisted almost exclusively of woodland caribou mtDNA haplotypes, indicating that phylogeographical structure was mainly shaped by postglacial expansions. The putative centres of these lineages are geographically separated; indicating disconnected glacialrefugia in the Rocky Mountains, east of the Mississippi, and the Appalachian Mountains. This is in congruence with the fossil record that caribou were distributed in these areas during the Pleistocene. Our results suggest that the last glacial maximum substantially shaped the phylogeographical structure of this large mammalian North American species that will be affected by climatic change. Therefore, the presented results will be essential for future conservation planning in woodland caribou. PMID:23285137

Classical glacialrefugia such as the southern European peninsulas were important for species survival during glacial periods and acted as sources of post-glacial colonisation processes. Only recently, some studies have provided evidence for glacialrefugia north of the southern European peninsulas. In the present study, we combined species distribution models (SDMs) with phylogeographic analyses (using mitochondrial DNA = mtDNA) to investigate if the cold-adapted, stenotopic and flightless ground beetle species, Carabus irregularis, survived the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) in classical and/or other refugia. SDMs (for both a western European and for a Carpathian subgroup) were calculated with MAXENT on the basis of 645 species records to predict current and past distribution patterns. Two mtDNA loci (CO1 and ND5, concatenated sequence length: 1785 bp) were analyzed from 91 C. irregularis specimens to reconstruct the phylogeography of Central and eastern European populations and to estimate divergence times of the given lineages. Strong intra-specific genetic differentiation (inter-clade ΦST values ranged from 0.92 to 0.99) implied long-term isolation of major clades and subsclades. The high divergence between the nominate subspecies and the Carpathian subspecies C. i. montandoni points to two independent species rather than subspecies (K-2P distance 0.042 ± 0.004; supposed divergence of the maternal lineages dated back 1.6 to 2.5 million years BP) differing not only morphologically but also genetically and ecologically from each other. The SDMs also inferred classical as well as other refugia for C. irregularis, especially north of the Alps, in southeastern Europe and in the Carpathians. The coincidences between the results of both methods confirm the assumption of multiple glacialrefugia for the studied species and the usefulness of combining methodological approaches for the understanding of the history of low-dispersal insect species. PMID:23593425

Introduction The major climatic oscillations during the Quaternary Ice Age heavily influenced the distribution of species and left their mark on intraspecific genetic diversity. Past range shifts can be reconstructed with the aid of species distribution modeling and phylogeographical analyses. We test the responses of the different members of the genus Triturus (i.e. the marbled and crested newts) as the climate shifted from the previous glacial period (the Last Glacial Maximum, ~21 Ka) to the current interglacial. Results We present the results of a dense mitochondrial DNA phylogeography (visualizing genetic diversity within and divergence among populations) and species distribution modeling (using two different climate simulations) for the nine Triturus species on composite maps. Conclusions The combined use of species distribution modeling and mitochondrial phylogeography provides insight in the glacial contraction and postglacial expansion of Triturus. The combined use of the two independent techniques yields a more complete understanding of the historical biogeography of Triturus than both approaches would on their own. Triturus newts generally conform to the ‘southern richness and northern purity’ paradigm, but we also find more intricate patterns, such as the absence of genetic variation and suitable area at the Last Glacial Maximum (T. dobrogicus), an ‘extra-Mediterranean’ refugium in the Carpathian Basin (T. cristatus), and areas where species displaced one another postglacially (e.g. T. macedonicus and western T. karelinii). We provide a biogeographical scenario for Triturus, showing the positions of glacialrefugia, the regions that were postglacially colonized and the areas where species displaced one another as they shifted their ranges. PMID:23514662

Archaeozoological finds of the remains of marine and amphihaline fish from the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) ca. 21 ka ago show evidence of very different species ranges compared to the present. We have shown how an ecological niche model (ENM) based on palaeoclimatic reconstructions of sea surface temperature and bathymetry can be used to effectively predict the spatial range of marine fish during the LGM. The results indicate that the ranges of marine fish species now in northwestern Europe were displaced significantly southwards from the modern distribution, challenging an existing paradigm of marine glacialrefugia. The model presents strong evidence that there was an invasion of important fish through the Straits of Gibraltar in glacial times, where they were exploited by Palaeolithic human populations around the western Mediterranean Sea. The ENM results are important for ongoing studies of molecular ecology that aim to assess marine glacialrefugia from the genetic structure of living populations, and they pose questions about the genetic identity of vanished marine populations during the LGM. Economically, the approach may be used to understand how the ranges of exploited fish species may be displaced with the future climate warming. The research presents a challenge for future archaeozoological work to delimit the glacialrefugia and to verify palaeoclimatic reconstructions based on deep-sea core records.

Recent data revealed that metazoans such as mites and springtails have persisted in Antarctica throughout several glacial–interglacial cycles, which contradicts the existing paradigm that terrestrial life was wiped out by successive glacial events and that the current inhabitants are recent colonizers. We used molecular phylogenetic techniques to study Antarctic microchlorophyte strains isolated from lacustrine habitats from maritime and continental Antarctica. The 14 distinct chlorophycean and trebouxiophycean lineages observed point to a wide phylogenetic diversity of apparently endemic Antarctic lineages at different taxonomic levels. This supports the hypothesis that long-term survival took place in glacialrefugia, resulting in a specific Antarctic flora. The majority of the lineages have estimated ages between 17 and 84 Ma and probably diverged from their closest relatives around the time of the opening of Drake Passage (30–45 Ma), while some lineages with longer branch lengths have estimated ages that precede the break-up of Gondwana. The variation in branch length and estimated age points to several independent but rare colonization events. PMID:19625320

Archaeozoological finds of the remains of marine and amphihaline fish from the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) ca. 21 ka ago show evidence of very different species ranges compared to the present. We show how an ecological niche model (ENM) based on palaeoclimatic reconstructions of sea surface temperature and bathymetry can be used to effectively predict the spatial range of marine fish during the LGM. The results indicate that the ranges of marine fish species that are now in Northwestern Europe were almost completely displaced southward from the modern distribution. Significantly, there is strong evidence that there was an invasion of fish of current economic importance into the Western Mediterranean through the Straits of Gibraltar, where they were exploited by Palaeolithic human populations. There has been much recent interest in the marine glacialrefugia to understand how the ranges of the economically important fish species will be displaced with the future climate warming. Recent ENM studies have suggested that species ranges may not have been displaced far southward during the coldest conditions of the LGM. However, archaeozoological evidence and LGM ocean temperature reconstructions indicate that there were large range changes, and certain marine species were able invade the Western Mediterranean. These findings are important for ongoing studies of molecular ecology that aim to assess marine glacialrefugia from the genetic structure of living populations, and they pose questions about the genetic identity of vanished marine populations during the LGM. The research presents a challenge for future archaeozoological work to verify palaeoclimatic reconstructions and delimit the glacialrefugia.

The intensively discussed taxonomic complexity of the Dactylorhiza genus is probably correlated with its migration history during glaciations and interglacial periods. Previous studies on past processes affecting the current distribution of Dactylorhiza species as well as the history of the polyploid complex formation were based only on molecular data. In the present study the ecological niche modeling (ENM) technique was applied in order to describe the distribution of potential refugia for the selected Dactylorhiza representatives during the Last Glacial Maximum. Additionally, future changes in their potential habitat coverage were measured with regard to three various climatic change scenarios. The maximum entropy method was used to create models of suitable niche distribution. A database of Dactylorhiza localities was prepared on the grounds of information collected from literature and data gathered during field works. Our research indicated that the habitats of majority of the studied taxa will decrease by 2080, except for D. incarnata var. incarnata, for which suitable habitats will increase almost two-fold in the global scale. Moreover, the potential habitats of some taxa are located outside their currently known geographical ranges, e.g. the Aleutian Islands, the western slopes of the Rocky Mountains, Newfoundland, southern Greenland and Iceland. ENM analysis did not confirm that the Balkans, central Europe or central Russia served as the most important refugia for individual representatives of the Dactylorhiza incarnata/maculata complex. Our study rather indicated that the Black Sea coast, southern Apennines and Corsica were the main areas characterized by habitats suitable for most of the taxa. PMID:26599630

In East Asia, temperate forests are predicted to have retracted southward to c. 30° N during the last glacial maximum (LGM) based on fossil pollen data, whereas phylogeographic studies have often suggested glacial in situ survival of cool-temperate deciduous trees in their modern northern ranges. Here we report a study of the genetic diversity and structure of 29 natural Mongolian oak (Quercus mongolica) populations using 19 nuclear simple sequence repeat (nSSR) loci and four chloroplast DNA fragments. Bayesian clustering analysis with nSSRs revealed five groups, which were inferred by approximate Bayesian computation (ABC) to have diverged in multiple refugia through multiple glacial-interglacial cycles. Analysis of chloroplast DNA variation revealed four lineages that were largely but incompletely geographically disjunct. Ecological niche modelling (ENMs) indicated a southward range shift of the oak's distribution at the LGM, although high suitability scores were also evident in the Changbai Mts. (Northeast China), the Korean Peninsula, areas surrounding the Bohai Sea, and along the coast of the Russian Far East. In addition, endemic chloroplast DNA haplotypes and nuclear lineages occurred in high-latitude northern areas where the ENM predicted no suitable habitat. The combined evidence from nuclear and chloroplast DNA, and the results of the ENM clearly demonstrate that multiple northern refugia, including cryptic ones, were maintained across the current distributional range of the Mongolian oak during the LGM or earlier glacial periods. Though spatially limited, postglacial expansions from these refugia have led to a pattern of decreased genetic diversity with increasing latitude. PMID:26439083

We employed DNA sequence variation at two mitochondrial (control region, COI) regions from 212 individuals of Galaxias platei (Pisces, Galaxiidae) collected throughout Patagonia (25 lakes/rivers) to examine how Andean orogeny and the climatic cycles throughout the Quaternary affected the genetic diversity and phylogeography of this species. Phylogenetic analyses revealed four deep genealogical lineages which likely represent the initial division of G. platei into eastern and western lineages by Andean uplift, followed by further subdivision of each lineage into separate glacialrefugia by repeated Pleistocene glacial cycles. West of the Andes, refugia were likely restricted to the northern region of Patagonia with small relicts in the south, whereas eastern refugia appear to have been much larger and widespread, consisting of separate northern and southern regions that collectively spanned most of Argentinean Patagonia. The retreat of glacial ice following the last glacial maximum allowed re-colonization of central Chile from nonlocal refugia from the north and east, representing a region of secondary contact between all four glacial lineages. Northwestern glacial relicts likely followed pro-glacial lakes into central Chilean Patagonia, whereas catastrophic changes in drainage direction (Atlantic --> Pacific) for several eastern palaeolakes were the likely avenues for invasions from the east. These mechanisms, combined with evidence for recent, rapid and widespread population growth could explain the extensive contemporary distribution of G. platei throughout Patagonia. PMID:19017262

Mediterranean mountain ranges harbour highly endemic biota in islandlike habitats. Their topographic diversity offered the opportunity for mountain species to persist in refugial areas during episodes of major climatic change. We investigate the role of Quaternary climatic oscillations in shaping the demographic history and distribution ranges in the spider Harpactocrates ravastellus, endemic to the Pyrenees. Gene trees and multispecies coalescent analyses on mitochondrial and nuclear DNA sequences unveiled two distinct lineages with a hybrid zone around the northwestern area of the Catalan Pyrenees. The lineages were further supported by morphological differences. Climatic niche-based species distribution models (SDMs) identified two lowland refugia at the western and eastern extremes of the mountain range, which would suggest secondary contact following postglacial expansion of populations from both refugia. Neutrality test and approximate Bayesian computation (ABC) analyses indicated that several local populations underwent severe bottlenecks followed by population expansions, which in combination with the deep population differentiation provided evidence for population survival during glacial periods in microrefugia across the mountain range, in addition to the main Atlantic and Mediterranean (western and eastern) refugia. This study sheds light on the complexities of Quaternary climatic oscillations in building up genetic diversity and local endemicity in the southern Europe mountain ranges. PMID:26878195

Climate warming is predicted to increase the frequency of invasions by pathogens and to cause the large-scale redistribution of native host species, with dramatic consequences on the health of domesticated and wild populations of plants and animals. The study of historic range shifts in response to climate change, such as during interglacial cycles, can help in the prediction of the routes and dynamics of infectious diseases during the impending ecosystem changes. Here we studied the population structure in Europe of two Microbotryum species causing anther smut disease on the plants Silene latifolia and Silene dioica. Clustering analyses revealed the existence of genetically distinct groups for the pathogen on S. latifolia, providing a clear-cut example of European phylogeography reflecting recolonization from southern refugia after glaciation. The pathogen genetic structure was congruent with the genetic structure of its host species S. latifolia, suggesting dependence of the migration pathway of the anther smut fungus on its host. The fungus, however, appeared to have persisted in more numerous and smaller refugia than its host and to have experienced fewer events of large-scale dispersal. The anther smut pathogen on S. dioica also showed a strong phylogeographic structure that might be related to more northern glacialrefugia. Differences in host ecology probably played a role in these differences in the pathogen population structure. Very high selfing rates were inferred in both fungal species, explaining the low levels of admixture between the genetic clusters. The systems studied here indicate that migration patterns caused by climate change can be expected to include pathogen invasions that follow the redistribution of their host species at continental scales, but also that the recolonization by pathogens is not simply a mirror of their hosts, even for obligate biotrophs, and that the ecology of hosts and pathogen mating systems likely affects recolonization

The northern microrefugia that existed during the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) are a key factor in the demographic history of species. Pinus koraiensis has a unique distribution in northeast Asia. The Changbai Mountains and the Korean peninsula (CM/KP) are usually considered to be the LGM refugia for P. koraiensis. However, the Xiaoxingan Range (XR), at the northern part of this species' distribution, is another possible refugium. We used chloroplast sequencing and ten nuclear single-copy gene loci to calculate the genetic diversity pattern of P. koraiensis. The probabilities of a single LGM refugium and of multiple LGM refugia were calculated based on approximate Bayesian computation. The effect of the latitudinal gradient on genetic diversity was not significant. However, unique alleles occurred at low frequencies in CM/KP and XR. A conservative estimate of the coalescence time between CM/KP and XR is 0.4 million years ago, a time prior to the LGM. Gene flow between CM/KP and XR was estimated to be more than one in per generation, an amount that may be sufficient to limit genetic divergence between the regions. Our study strongly supports the hypothesis that XR was another LGM refugium in addition to CM/KP. PMID:26691230

The northern microrefugia that existed during the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) are a key factor in the demographic history of species. Pinus koraiensis has a unique distribution in northeast Asia. The Changbai Mountains and the Korean peninsula (CM/KP) are usually considered to be the LGM refugia for P. koraiensis. However, the Xiaoxingan Range (XR), at the northern part of this species’ distribution, is another possible refugium. We used chloroplast sequencing and ten nuclear single-copy gene loci to calculate the genetic diversity pattern of P. koraiensis. The probabilities of a single LGM refugium and of multiple LGM refugia were calculated based on approximate Bayesian computation. The effect of the latitudinal gradient on genetic diversity was not significant. However, unique alleles occurred at low frequencies in CM/KP and XR. A conservative estimate of the coalescence time between CM/KP and XR is 0.4 million years ago, a time prior to the LGM. Gene flow between CM/KP and XR was estimated to be more than one in per generation, an amount that may be sufficient to limit genetic divergence between the regions. Our study strongly supports the hypothesis that XR was another LGM refugium in addition to CM/KP. PMID:26691230

Background A number of studies have described the extension of ice cover in western Patagonia during the Last Glacial Maximum, providing evidence of a complete cover of terrestrial habitat from 41°S to 56°S and two main refugia, one in south-eastern Tierra del Fuego and the other north of the Chiloé Island. However, recent evidence of high genetic diversity in Patagonian river species suggests the existence of aquatic refugia in this region. Here, we further test this hypothesis based on phylogeographic inferences from a semi-aquatic species that is a top predator of river and marine fauna, the huillín or Southern river otter (Lontra provocax). Results We examined mtDNA sequences of the control region, ND5 and Cytochrome-b (2151 bp in total) in 75 samples of L. provocax from 21 locations in river and marine habitats. Phylogenetic analysis illustrates two main divergent clades for L. provocax in continental freshwater habitat. A highly diverse clade was represented by haplotypes from the marine habitat of the Southern Fjords and Channels (SFC) region (43°38' to 53°08'S), whereas only one of these haplotypes was paraphyletic and associated with northern river haplotypes. Conclusions Our data support the hypothesis of the persistence of L. provocax in western Patagonia, south of the ice sheet limit, during last glacial maximum (41°S latitude). This limit also corresponds to a strong environmental change, which might have spurred L. provocax differentiation between the two environments. PMID:21356052

Past glaciation events have played a major role in shaping the genetic diversity and distribution of wild sheep in North America. The advancement of glaciers can isolate populations in ice-free refugia, where they can survive until the recession of ice sheets. The major Beringian refugium is thought to have held thinhorn sheep (Ovis dalli) populations during times of glacial advance. While isolation in the major refugium can account for much of the genetic and morphological diversity seen in extant thinhorn sheep populations, mounting evidence suggests the persistence of populations in smaller minor refugia. We investigated the refugial origins of thinhorn sheep using ~10 000 SNPs obtained via a cross-species application of the domestic sheep ovine HD BeadChip to genotype 52 thinhorn sheep and five bighorn sheep (O. canadensis) samples. Phylogenetic inference revealed a distinct lineage of thinhorn sheep inhabiting British Columbia, which is consistent with the survival of a group of thinhorn sheep in a minor refugium separate from the Beringian refugium. Isolation in separate glacialrefugia probably mediated the evolution of the two thinhorn sheep subspecies, the white Dall's sheep (O. d. dalli), which persisted in Beringia, and the dark Stone's sheep (O. d. stonei), which utilized the minor refugium. We also found the first genetic evidence for admixture between sheep from different glacialrefugia in south-central Yukon as a consequence of post glacial expansion and recolonization. These results show that glaciation events can have a major role in the evolution of species inhabiting previously glaciated habitats and the need to look beyond established refugia when examining the evolutionary history of such species. PMID:27272944

Studies of species with continental distributions continue to identify intraspecific lineages despite continuous habitat. Lineages may form due to isolation by distance, adaptation, divergence across barriers, or genetic drift following range expansion. We investigated lineage diversification and admixture within American black bears (Ursus americanus) across their range using 22 k single nucleotide polymorphisms and mitochondrial DNA sequences. We identified three subcontinental nuclear clusters which we further divided into nine geographic regions: Alaskan (Alaska-East), eastern (Central Interior Highlands, Great Lakes, Northeast, Southeast), and western (Alaska-West, West, Pacific Coast, Southwest). We estimated that the western cluster diverged 67 ka, before eastern and Alaskan divergence 31 ka; these divergence dates contrasted with those from the mitochondrial genome where clades A and B diverged 1.07 Ma, and clades A-east and A-west diverged 169 ka. We combined estimates of divergence timing with hindcast species distribution models to infer glacialrefugia for the species in Beringia, Pacific Northwest, Southwest, and Southeast. Our results show a complex arrangement of admixture due to expansion out of multiple refugia. The delineation of the genomic population clusters was inconsistent with the ranges for 16 previously described subspecies. Ranges for U. a. pugnax and U. a. cinnamomum were concordant with admixed clusters, calling into question how to order taxa below the species level. Additionally, our finding that U. a. floridanus has not diverged from U. a. americanus also suggests that morphology and genetics should be reanalyzed to assess taxonomic designations relevant to the conservation management of the species. PMID:25989983

Quaternary climatic oscillations profoundly impacted temperate biodiversity. For many diverse yet undersampled areas, however, the consequences of this impact are still poorly known. In Europe, particular uncertainty surrounds the role of Balkans, a major hotspot of European diversity, in postglacial recolonization of more northerly areas, and the Carpathians, a debatable candidate for a northern 'cryptic' glacial refugium. Using genome-wide SNPs and microsatellites, we examined how the interplay of historical processes and niche shifts structured genetic diversity of diploid Arabidopsis arenosa, a little-known member of the plant model genus that occupies a wide niche range from sea level to alpine peaks across eastern temperate Europe. While the northern Balkans hosted one isolated endemic lineage, most of the genetic diversity was concentrated further north in the Pannonian Basin and the Carpathians, where it likely survived the last glaciation in northern refugia. Finally, a distinct postglacial environment in northern Europe was colonized by populations of admixed origin from the two Carpathian lineages. Niche differentiation along altitude-related bioclimatic gradients was the main trend in the phylogeny of A. arenosa. The most prominent niche shifts, however, characterized genetically only slightly divergent populations that expanded into narrowly defined alpine and northern coastal postglacial environments. Our study highlights the role of eastern central European mountains not only as refugia for unique temperate diversity but also sources for postglacial expansion into novel high-altitude and high-latitude niches. Knowledge of distinct genetic substructure of diploid A. arenosa also opens new opportunities for follow-up studies of this emerging model of evolutionary biology. PMID:27288974

Background Species that are widespread throughout historically glaciated and currently non-glaciated areas provide excellent opportunities to investigate the role of Pleistocene climatic change on the distribution of North American biodiversity. Many studies indicate that northern animal populations exhibit low levels of genetic diversity over geographically widespread areas whereas southern populations exhibit relatively high levels. Recently, paleoclimatic data have been combined with niche-based distribution modeling to locate possible refugia during the Last Glacial Maximum. Using phylogeographic, population, and paleoclimatic data, we show that the distribution and mitochondrial data for the millipede genus Narceus are consistent with classical examples of Pleistocene refugia and subsequent post-glacial population expansion seen in other organismal groups. Results The phylogeographic structure of Narceus reveals a complex evolutionary history with signatures of multiple refugia in southeastern North America followed by two major northern expansions. Evidence for refugial populations were found in the southern Appalachian Mountains and in the coastal plain. The northern expansions appear to have radiated from two separate refugia, one from the Gulf Coastal Plain area and the other from the mid-Atlantic coastal region. Distributional models of Narceus during the Last Glacial Maximum show a dramatic reduction from the current distribution, with suitable ecological zones concentrated along the Gulf and Atlantic coastal plain. We found a strong correlation between these zones of ecological suitability inferred from our paleo-model with levels of genetic diversity derived from phylogenetic and population estimates of genetic structuring. Conclusion The signature of climatic change, during and after the Pleistocene, on the distribution of the millipede genus Narceus is evident in the genetic data presented. Niche-based historical distribution modeling strengthens the

Genetic signatures from the Paleolithic inhabitants of Eurasia can be traced from the early divergent mitochondrial DNA lineages still present in contemporary human populations. Previous studies already suggested a pre-Neolithic diffusion of mitochondrial haplogroup HV*(xH,V) lineages, a relatively rare class of mtDNA types that includes parallel branches mainly distributed across Europe and West Asia with a certain degree of structure. Up till now, variation within haplogroup HV was addressed mainly by analyzing sequence data from the mtDNA control region, except for specific sub-branches, such as HV4 or the widely distributed haplogroups H and V. In this study, we present a revised HV topology based on full mtDNA genome data, and we include a comprehensive dataset consisting of 316 complete mtDNA sequences including 60 new samples from the Italian peninsula, a previously underrepresented geographic area. We highlight points of instability in the particular topology of this haplogroup, reconstructed with BEAST-generated trees and networks. We also confirm a major lineage expansion that probably followed the Late Glacial Maximum and preceded Neolithic population movements. We finally observe that Italy harbors a reservoir of mtDNA diversity, with deep-rooting HV lineages often related to sequences present in the Caucasus and the Middle East. The resulting hypothesis of a glacial refugium in Southern Italy has implications for the understanding of late Paleolithic population movements and is discussed within the archaeological cultural shifts occurred over the entire continent. PMID:26640946

Palynological results from Julietta Lake currently provide the most direct evidence to support the existence of a glacial refugium for Pinus pumila in mountains of southwestern Beringia. Both percentages and accumulation rates indicate the evergreen shrub survived until at least {approx}19,000 14C yr B.P. in the Upper Kolyma region. Percentage data suggest numbers dwindled into the late glaciation, whereas pollen accumulation rates point towards a more rapid demise shortly after {approx}19,000 14C yr B.P. Pinus pumila did not re-establish in any great numbers until {approx}8100 14C yr B.P., despite the local presence {approx}9800 14C yr B.P. of Larix dahurica, which shares similar summer temperature requirements. The postglacial thermal maximum (in Beringia {approx}11,000-9000 14C yr B.P.) provided Pinus pumila shrubs with equally harsh albeit different conditions for survival than those present during the LGM. Regional records indicate that in this time of maximum warmth Pinus pumila likely sheltered in a second, lower-elevation refugium. Paleoclimatic models and modern ecology suggest that shifts in the nature of seasonal transitions and not only seasonal extremes have played important roles in the history of Pinus pumila over the last {approx}21,000 14C yr B.P.

Glacigenic topography on the mid-shelf (~130-350 m water depth) west of Galway, Ireland appears to have the morphological form, internal architecture and sediments associated with a large glacial grounding-line fan. Seismic data collected in 2009 and 2012 (during the GLAMAR and GATEWAYS 1 campaigns) reveal that the broad, arcuate ridges of the 'Olex moraine' form the landward part of a fan system which prograded beyond the mid-shelf break (defining the outer margin of the 'Clare Platform') westwards into the Porcupine Seabight. The topography is comparable to larger shelf-edge trough-mouth fans found further north along the same margin, however no discernible 'trough' has been identified on the Clare Platform. The ridge and fan topographic assemblage is renamed the 'Connemara Fan' in its entirety, based on its genetic relations and geographic location due west of Connemara, western Ireland. A macrofossil recovered from within a debris flow on the outer fan slope comprised of remobilised plumites dates to ~ 20 ka Cal B.P., indicating sediment reworking downslope following deglacial sediment input to at least that time. The Connemara Fan is the most southerly glacigenic fan identified along the north-east Atlantic margin. Its identification also adds to our knowledge of possibly multiple generations of ice sheets feeding onto the Irish shelf from west-central Ireland and the occurrence of ice sheet geometries and dynamics that evacuated ice, melt-water and sediment (ice streams?) westwards across the Clare Platform during past glaciations.

The phylogeography of western Palearctic species is relatively well studied, but data on Eastern Central Asia are scarce. We present one of the first data sets from a widespread terrestrial vertebrate (Bufo pewzowi) inhabiting Eastern Central Asian mountains and deserts to gain knowledge on its phylogeography in this region. We applied combined phylogenetic and demographic analyses to understand the evolutionary history using mitochondrial DNA D-loop variation of toads from 37 locations. Genetic structure of Bufo pewzowi is strongly affected by landscape: we found three haplotype groups in eastern Kazakhstan, Dzungaria and Tarim Basin, divided by the Tian Shan and Dzungarian Alatau ranges. A vicariant hypothesis may explain divergence among groups. The divergence time of the three major clades was estimated about 0.9 million years ago (confidence interval 0.5-1.4), and is discussed with respect to Quaternary uplifting and glaciation in the Tian Shan. Demographic analyses provided evidence for both historical bottlenecks and population expansions and suggested Pleistocene signatures. Glacialrefugia were inferred in the Tarim Basin (around the Turpan depression), in southern Dzungaria (Urumqui region), at the northern foot of the Tian Shan (Gongnaisi) and perhaps at the Altai range (Terekti). Regional Post-Last Glacial Maximum dispersal patterns are proposed. A taxonomic hypothesis is presented. This study provides a detailed history of how a widespread terrestrial vertebrate responded to geological change and Quaternary glacial events in Eastern Central Asia and may have significance for future phylogeographic research in this understudied region. PMID:18301990

We used the widely distributed freshwater fish, perch (Perca fluviatilis), to investigate the postglacial colonization routes of freshwater fishes in Europe. Genetic variability within and among drainages was assessed using mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) D-loop sequencing and RAPD markers from 55 populations all over Europe as well as one Siberian population. High level of structuring for both markers was observed among drainages and regions, while little differentiation was seen within drainages and regions. Phylogeographic relationships among European perch were determined from the distribution of 35 mtDNA haplotypes detected in the samples. In addition to a distinct southern European group, which includes a Greek and a southern Danubian population, three major groups of perch are observed: the western European drainages, the eastern European drainages including the Siberian population, and Norwegian populations from northern Norway, and western side of Oslofjord. Our data suggest that present perch populations in western and northern Europe were colonized from three main refugia, located in southeastern, northeastern and western Europe. In support of this, nested cladistic analysis of mtDNA clade and nested clade distances suggested historical range expansion as the main factor determining geographical distribution of haplotypes. The Baltic Sea has been colonized from all three refugia, and northeastern Europe harbours descendants from both eastern European refugia. In the upper part of the Danube lineages from the western European and the southern European refugia meet. The southern European refugium probably did not contribute to the recolonization of other western and northern European drainages after the last glaciation. However, phylogenetic analyses suggest that the southern European mtDNA lineage is the most ancient, and therefore likely to be the founder of all present perch lineages. The colonization routes used by perch probably also apply to other

The Porcupine Bank lies west of Ireland between 51-54N and 11-15 W, located approximately between 150 km and 250 km from the Irish western coastline. The topography of the bank is gently sloping from the Porcupine Ridge contained within the 200m depth contour to the edge at the 500m depth contour. From then on, sharp escarpments occur to the north and west while the slope is gentler toward the Porcupine Seabight to the southeast. The Bank is linked to the Irish western shelf through a low ridge roughly 100km wide to the northeast. This region's geomorphology and shallow stratigraphy is still widely unexplored although it is located critically for our understanding of the last glaciation inception and termination of the British Irish Ice Sheet. The north-eastern Atlantic shelf region West of Ireland contains a relatively pristine record of glacial ice extension from Ireland and Scotland onto the shelf, probably during the last cold period (Late Midlandian glaciation in Ireland). Furthermore, national economic interest in the region is rising with long term investment being put forward for the Irish Marine Economy. Using multibeam and subbottom data collected more than a decade ago, the seabed surface of the region has been interpreted and mapped. Bedrock outcrop, sand ridges, erosional channels, iceberg scours and ridges of various forms have been recognised. These features show some clear influence of the proximal ice sheets as illustrated by the extensive coverage of iceberg scours. Similarly, the northern edge of the Porcupine Bank and the Porcupine Ridge in particular is characterised by large elongated ridges for which the origin is obscure. These appear roughly parallel to a W-E direction with some displaying a levelling effect on one of their sides. This paper will introduce the results of the mapping effort and argue for the interpretation of the above mentioned ridges as glacial in origin. Various scenarios of the consequences of that statement will then be

This study details the phylogeographic pattern of the bank vole, Clethrionomys glareolus, a European rodent species strongly associated with forest habitat. We used sequences of 1011 base pairs of the mitochondrial DNA cytochrome b gene from 207 bank voles collected in 62 localities spread throughout its distribution area. Our results reveal the presence of three Mediterranean (Spanish, Italian and Balkan) and three continental (western, eastern and 'Ural') phylogroups. The endemic Mediterranean phylogroups did not contribute to the post-glacial recolonization of much of the Palaearctic range of species. Instead, the major part of this region was apparently recolonized by bank voles that survived in glacialrefugia in central Europe. Moreover, our phylogeographic analyses also reveal differentiated populations of bank voles in the Ural mountains and elsewhere, which carry the mitochondrial DNA of another related vole species, the ruddy vole (Clethrionomys rutilus). In conclusion, this study demonstrates a complex phylogeographic history for a forest species in Europe which is sufficiently adaptable that, facing climate change, survives in relict southern and northern habitats. The high level of genetic diversity characterizing vole populations from parts of central Europe also highlights the importance of such regions as a source of intraspecific genetic biodiversity. PMID:15836645

The relationship between population structure and demographic history is critical to understanding microevolution and for predicting the resilience of species to environmental change. Using mitochondrial DNA from extant colonies and radiocarbon-dated subfossils, we present the first microevolutionary analysis of emperor penguins (Aptenodytes forsteri) and show their population trends throughout the last glacial maximum (LGM, 19.5-16 kya) and during the subsequent period of warming and sea ice retreat. We found evidence for three mitochondrial clades within emperor penguins, suggesting that they were isolated within three glacialrefugia during the LGM. One of these clades has remained largely isolated within the Ross Sea, while the two other clades have intermixed around the coast of Antarctica from Adélie Land to the Weddell Sea. The differentiation of the Ross Sea population has been preserved despite rapid population growth and opportunities for migration. Low effective population sizes during the LGM, followed by a rapid expansion around the beginning of the Holocene, suggest that an optimum set of sea ice conditions exist for emperor penguins, corresponding to available foraging area. PMID:25728986

We examined the global mitochondrial phylogeography of Gyrodactylus arcuatus, a flatworm ectoparasite of three-spined stickleback Gasterosteus aculeatus. In accordance with the suggested high divergence rate of 13%/million years, the genetic variation of the parasite was high: haplotype diversity h=0.985 and nucleotide diversity π=0.0161. The differentiation among the parasite populations was substantial (Φst=0.759), with two main allopatric clades (here termed Euro and North) accounting for 54% of the total genetic variation. The diversity center of the Euro clade was in the Baltic Sea, while the North clade was spread across the Barents and White Seas. A single haplotype within the North clade was found in the western and eastern Pacific Ocean. Divergence of main clades was estimated to be circa 200 thousand years ago. Each main clade was further divided into six distinct subclades, estimated to have diverged in isolation since 135 thousand years ago. This second division corresponds approximately to the Eemian interglacial predating the last glacial maximum. A demographic expansion of the subclades is associated with colonisation of northern Europe since the last glacial maximum, circa 15-40 thousand years ago. The parasite phylogeny is most likely explained by sequential isolated bottlenecks and expansions in numerous allopatric refugia. The postglacial intermingling and high variation in the marine parasite populations, separately in the Baltic and Barents Seas, suggest low competition of divergent parasite matrilines, coupled with a large population size and high rate of dispersal of hosts. The genetic contribution of the assumed refugial fish populations maintaining the parasite during the last glacial maximum was not detected among the marine sticklebacks, which perhaps were infected after range expansion. PMID:27155331

A multi-technique approach has been adopted in a study of the lithostratigraphy of glacial deposits in southwestern Ireland, including clast lithological analysis, fine sand geochemistry, low frequency mass specific susceptibility and fine sand calcium carbonate (equivalent) content. A revised lithostratigraphical scheme is suggested for the Quaternary glacial deposits of the region, together with a simple strategy that may be adopted for stratigraphical studies in other regions of southern Ireland. It appears that geochemical determinations via inductively coupled plasma-atomic absorption spectrometry are particularly useful in characterising and discriminating between till units within local stratigraphical studies and may be used to inform the applicability of other utilitarian techniques for use on a regional scale.

The biogeographical relationships between far-separated populations, in particular, those in the mainland and islands, remain unclear for widespread species in eastern Asia where the current distribution of plants was greatly influenced by the Quaternary climate. Deciduous Oriental oak (Quercus variabilis) is one of the most widely distributed species in eastern Asia. In this study, leaf material of 528 Q. variabilis trees from 50 populations across the whole distribution (Mainland China, Korea Peninsular as well as Japan, Zhoushan and Taiwan Islands) was collected, and three cpDNA intergenic spacer fragments were sequenced using universal primers. A total of 26 haplotypes were detected, and it showed a weak phylogeographical structure in eastern Asia populations at species level, however, in the central-eastern region of Mainland China, the populations had more haplotypes than those in other regions, with a significant phylogeographical structure (NST = 0.751> GST = 0.690, P<0.05). Q. variabilis displayed high interpopulation and low intrapopulation genetic diversity across the distribution range. Both unimodal mismatch distribution and significant negative Fu’s FS indicated a demographic expansion of Q. variabilis populations in East Asia. A fossil calibrated phylogenetic tree showed a rapid speciation during Pleistocene, with a population augment occurred in Middle Pleistocene. Both diversity patterns and ecological niche modelling indicated there could be multiple glacialrefugia and possible bottleneck or founder effects occurred in the southern Japan. We dated major spatial expansion of Q. variabilis population in eastern Asia to the last glacial cycle(s), a period with sea-level fluctuations and land bridges in East China Sea as possible dispersal corridors. This study showed that geographical heterogeneity combined with climate and sea-level changes have shaped the genetic structure of this wide-ranging tree species in East Asia. PMID:23115642

Quaternary glacial cycles have shaped the geographic distributions and evolution of numerous species in the Arctic. Ancient DNA suggests that the Arctic fox went extinct in Europe at the end of the Pleistocene and that Scandinavia was subsequently recolonized from Siberia, indicating inability to track its habitat through space as climate changed. Using ecological niche modeling, we found that climatically suitable conditions for Arctic fox were found in Scandinavia both during the last glacial maximum (LGM) and the mid-Holocene. Our results are supported by fossil occurrences from the last glacial. Furthermore, the model projection for the LGM, validated with fossil records, suggested an approximate distance of 2000 km between suitable Arctic conditions and the Tibetan Plateau well within the dispersal distance of the species, supporting the recently proposed hypothesis of range expansion from an origin on the Tibetan Plateau to the rest of Eurasia. The fact that the Arctic fox disappeared from Scandinavia despite suitable conditions suggests that extant populations may be more sensitive to climate change than previously thought. PMID:26811782

Reconstructions of the extent and height of the Irish Ice Sheet (IIS) during the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM, ∼19-26 ka) are widely debated, in large part due to limited age constraints on former ice margins and due to uncertainties in the origin of the trimlines. A key area is southwestern Ireland, where various LGM reconstructions range from complete coverage by a contiguous IIS that extends to the continental shelf edge to a separate, more restricted southern-sourced Kerry-Cork Ice Cap (KCIC). We present new 10Be surface exposure ages from two moraines in a cirque basin in the Macgillycuddy's Reeks that provide a unique and unequivocal constraint on ice thickness for this region. Nine 10Be ages from an outer moraine yield a mean age of 24.5 ± 1.4 ka while six ages from an inner moraine yield a mean age of 20.4 ± 1.2 ka. These ages show that the northern flanks of the Macgillycuddy's Reeks were not covered by the IIS or a KCIC since at least 24.5 ± 1.4 ka. If there was more extensive ice coverage over the Macgillycuddy's Reeks during the LGM, it occurred prior to our oldest ages.

Reconstructions of the extent and height of the Irish Ice Sheet (IIS) during the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM, ∼19-26 ka) are widely debated, in large part due to limited age constraints on former ice margins and due to uncertainties in the origin of the trimlines. A key area is southwestern Ireland, where various LGM reconstructions range from complete coverage by a contiguous IIS that extends to the continental shelf edge to a separate, more restricted southern-sourced Kerry-Cork Ice Cap (KCIC). We present new 10Be surface exposure ages from two moraines in a cirque basin in the Macgillycuddy's Reeks that provide a unique and unequivocal constraint on ice thickness for this region. Nine 10Be ages from an outer moraine yield a mean age of 24.5 ± 1.4 ka while six ages from an inner moraine yield a mean age of 20.4 ± 1.2 ka. These ages show that the northern flanks of the Macgillycuddy's Reeks were not covered by the IIS or a KCIC since at least 24.5 ± 1.4 ka. If there was more extensive ice coverage over the Macgillycuddy's Reeks during the LGM, it occurred prior to our oldest ages.

During the late Wisconsin glaciation (circa 26,000-13,000 carbon-14 yr BP) the Cordilleran glacier complex formed vast ice fields and large glaciers along the crest of the Coast Mountains. As these glaciers flowed west to the Pacific Ocean, they were joined by local glaciers originating on the higher reaches of the Alexander Archipelago (Mann and Hamiltion, 1995). This extensive volume of ice was channeled into deep troughs (present-day fiords) that formed major outlet glaciers, such as the glaciers that occupied Chatham Strait and Dixon Entrance. In several places along the coast, deep glacially scoured submarine troughs indicate that glaciers reached to the edge of the continental shelf. For instance, the glacier that extended into the Dixon Entrance trough is known to have extended to the edge of the continental shelf. Its retreat began sometime after 16,000-15,000 carbon-14 yr BP (Barrie and Conway, 1999).

Glacio-isostatic adjustment (GIA) models suggest a complex relative sea-level (RSL) pattern around the Irish Sea Basin after the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM), with modelled sea-level lowstands ranging from -12 m in the north to greater than -60 m in the south of the Basin. However, these GIA models are poorly constrained by observational data offshore. Belfast Lough, on the NE coast of Ireland, is one of seven sites chosen to investigate this complex RSL history as part of the project ';Late Glacial Sea level minima in the Western British Isles' (NERC NE/H024301/1). Belfast Lough was chosen as one of the candidate sites on the basis of location (at the northern end of the Irish Sea Basin), sedimentary environment (grossly depositional) and the fact that the lowstand predicted for the Belfast Lough area by a recent version of the GIA model (-16.5 m) differs significantly from the (limited) extant observational data, which interprets the lowstand at -30 m. In 2011 and 2012 we gathered new multi-beam echo-sounder data, >200 km trackline pinger- and boomer- seismic reflection data and 46 vibrocores in Belfast Lough. Radiocarbon dating and palaeoenvironmental analysis are used to constrain the interpretation of the seismic and sediment data. Five seismo-stratigraphic units are interpreted, with a distinct erosional surface between U3 and U4 interpreted as a transgressive surface associated with sea level rise post-dating a RSL lowstand. Foraminiferal evidence indicates an increase in marine species (from lagoonal/estuarine to fully marine) from U4 to U5. Integration of the seismic and core data indicate an erosional event prior to 12.7 cal yr BP resulting in a planated surface in the inner Lough and wave-eroded drumlins at the mouth of the Lough between -15 and -22 m, interpreted as a possible slowstand. On the basis of seismic evidence in the outer Lough, an as yet undated lowstand at -42 m is tentatively interpreted to pre-date this stillstand. These results will be

Glacio-isostatic adjustment (GIA) models suggest a complex relative sea-level (RSL) pattern around the Irish Sea Basin after the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM), with modelled sea-level lowstands ranging from -12 m in the north to greater than -60 m in the south of the Basin. However, these GIA models are poorly constrained by observational data offshore. Belfast Lough, on the NE coast of Ireland, is one of seven sites chosen to investigate this complex RSL history as part of the project 'Late Glacial Sea level minima in the Western British Isles' (NERC NE/H024301/1). Belfast Lough was chosen as one of the candidate sites on the basis of location (at the northern end of the Irish Sea Basin), sedimentary environment (grossly depositional) and the fact that the lowstand predicted for the Belfast Lough area by a recent version of the GIA model (-16.5 m) differs significantly from the (limited) extant observational data, which interprets the lowstand at -30 m. In 2011 and 2012 we gathered new multi-beam echo-sounder data, >200 km trackline pinger- and boomer- seismic reflection data and 46 vibrocores in Belfast Lough. Radiocarbon dating and palaeoenvironmental analysis are used to constrain the interpretation of the seismic and sediment data. Five seismo-stratigraphic units are interpreted, with a distinct erosional surface between U3 and U4 interpreted as a transgressive surface associated with sea level rise post-dating a RSL lowstand. Foraminiferal evidence indicates an increase in marine species (from lagoonal/estuarine to fully marine) from U4 to U5. Integration of the seismic and core data indicate an erosional event prior to 12.7 cal yr BP resulting in a planated surface in the inner Lough and wave-eroded drumlins at the mouth of the Lough between -15 and -22 m, interpreted as a possible slowstand. On the basis of seismic evidence in the outer Lough, an as yet undated lowstand at -42 m is tentatively interpreted to pre-date this stillstand. These results will be used

The southeastern margin of the Tibetan Plateau (SEMTP) is a particularly interesting region due to its topographic complexity and unique geologic history, but phylogeographic studies that focus on this region are rare. In this study, we investigated the phylogeography of the South China field mouse, Apodemus draco, in order to assess the role of geologic and climatic events on the Tibetan Plateau in shaping its genetic structure. We sequenced mitochondrial cytochrome b (cyt b) sequences in 103 individuals from 47 sampling sites. In addition, 23 cyt b sequences were collected from GenBank for analyses. Phylogenetic, demographic and landscape genetic methods were conducted. Seventy-six cyt b haplotypes were found and the genetic diversity was extremely high (π = 0.0368; h = 0.989). Five major evolutionary clades, based on geographic locations, were identified. Demographic analyses implied subclade 1A and subclade 1B experienced population expansions at about 0.052-0.013 Mya and 0.014-0.004 Mya, respectively. The divergence time analysis showed that the split between clade 1 and clade 2 occurred 0.26 Mya, which fell into the extensive glacial period (EGP, 0.5-0.17 Mya). The divergence times of other main clades (2.20-0.55 Mya) were congruent with the periods of the Qingzang Movement (3.6-1.7 Mya) and the Kun-Huang Movement (1.2-0.6 Mya), which were known as the most intense uplift events in the Tibetan Plateau. Our study supported the hypothesis that the SEMTP was a large late Pleistocene refugium, and further inferred that the Gongga Mountain Region and Hongya County were glacialrefugia for A. draco in clade 1. We hypothesize that the evolutionary history of A. draco in the SEMTP primarily occurred in two stages. First, an initial divergence would have been shaped by uplift events of the Tibetan Plateau. Then, major glaciations in the Pleistocene added complexity to its demographic history and genetic structure. PMID:22666478

Ireland has a rich and long history. It is a land of fable and of strife, from the legendary warrior Fionn Mac Cumhaill (anglicized as Finn McCool) and the god-like Tuatha De Danann to the potato famine and the more recent Troubles. In the last decade, Ireland has experienced an economic boom and assumed a new place in the political landscape via…

In recent years, progress in remote sensing techniques has helped to constrain the advance and retreat phases of the British-Irish Ice Sheet during and after the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM), both on- and offshore. However, little evidence has been collected to study the pattern of relative sea-level (RSL) change immediately after ice sheet retreat. Glacio-isostatic adjustment (GIA) models suggest a complex RSL pattern around Ireland, influenced by local and regional isostatic movements. Unfortunately, such models are poorly constrained for periods during which RSL was significantly lower than present, particularly the Late Pleistocene and Early Holocene, owing to the paucity of accurate observational data offshore. This poster presents post-LGM stratigraphic evidence from Bantry Bay (SW Ireland), one of seven areas targeted around the Irish Sea as part of a larger NERC funded project which aims to provide the first field data on the depth and age of the RSL minimum since deglaciation in the Irish Sea Basin. Data examined consists of: multibeam bathymetry and backscatter, pinger sub-bottom and vibrocores (25 sites). Notable features on the multibeam are a bluff line in the outer bay with a maximum height of 10 m in water depths of c. -80 m which forms the western edge of a large sediment lobe. The south-western boundary of this lobe is marked by a series of long (up to 22 km), parallel ridges at depths between -96 m and -131 m, with iceberg scouring evident on the offshore margin. Six seismo-stratigraphic units are interpreted from the pinger data, the most prominent of which can be traced from the inner part of the Bay to the inshore edge of the ridges. This unit sits on an erosional surface, is characterised by a turbid acoustic signature and is identified as alternating sand and clay layers with some traces of organic material and gas. Equal amounts of marine and estuarine foraminifera are present within this unit, whilst the underlying unit has a higher

The phylogeographic structure and postglacial history of balsam fir (Abies balsamea), a transcontinental North American boreal conifer, was inferred using mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) and chloroplast DNA (cpDNA) markers. Genetic structure among 107 populations (mtDNA data) and 75 populations (cpDNA data) was analyzed using Bayesian and genetic distance approaches. Population differentiation was high for mtDNA (dispersed by seeds only), but also for cpDNA (dispersed by seeds and pollen), indicating that pollen gene flow is more restricted in balsam fir than in other boreal conifers. Low cpDNA gene flow in balsam fir may relate to low pollen production due to the inherent biology of the species and populations being decimated by recurrent spruce budworm epidemics, and/or to low dispersal of pollen grains due to their peculiar structural properties. Accordingly, a phylogeographic structure was detected using both mtDNA and cpDNA markers and population structure analyses supported the existence of at least five genetically distinct glacial lineages in central and eastern North America. Four of these would originate from glacialrefugia located south of the Laurentide ice sheet, while the last one would have persisted in the northern Labrador region. As expected due to reduced pollen-mediated gene flow, congruence between the geographic distribution of mtDNA and cpDNA lineages was higher than in other North American conifers. However, concordance was not complete, reflecting that restricted but nonetheless detectable cpDNA gene flow among glacial lineages occurred during the Holocene. As a result, new cpDNA and mtDNA genome combinations indicative of cytoplasmic genome capture were observed. PMID:25849816

Abstract This study documents the first detailed phylogenetic analysis of an Australian paradoxosomatid millipede genus. Two mitochondrial genes (partial COI and 16S) as well as partial nuclear 28S rDNA were amplified and sequenced for 41 individuals of the southeastern Australian genus Pogonosternum Jeekel, 1965. The analysis indicates that five species groups of Pogonosternum occur across New South Wales, Victoria and Tasmania: Pogonosternum nigrovirgatum (Carl, 1912), Pogonosternum adrianae Jeekel, 1982, Pogonosternum laetificum Jeekel, 1982 and two undescribed species. Pogonosternum coniferum (Jeekel, 1965) specimens cluster within Pogonosternum nigrovirgatum. Most of these five species groups exhibit a pattern of high intraspecific genetic variability and highly localized haplotypes, suggesting that they were confined to multiple Pleistocene refugia on the southeastern Australian mainland. The phylogenetic data also show that northwestern Tasmania was colonized by Pogonosternum nigrovirgatum, probably from central Victoria, and northeastern Tasmania by an as yet undescribed species from eastern Victoria. PMID:27110194

During the last glaciation in northwestern Europe, major studies are consistent with the hypothesis of an ice-stream flowing southward in the Irish Sea Basin, in connection with tributary flows on the eastern of the Irish Cap. During deglaciation, sediment deposition processes are predominant, leaving a record of glacially influenced environments. Evidence of such deposits still remains on the coast of the UK and Ireland today. Although these deposits have been studied for many decades, their depositional environment is still under debate and interpretations are evolving, together with new concepts. The present work focuses on the study of the Killiney Bay section, South Dublin, located in a topographic depression, expected to be a former subglacial tunnel valley in connection with an offshore canyon in the Irish Sea. Geometry and architecture have been approached by using panoramic photographs. In addition, fifteen detailed logs describe the stratigraphic succession, erosive surfaces and variations of small-scale sedimentary features. Seven Facies Associations were defined and used to reconstruct depositional environments. Although the section is affected by glaciotectonic deformation, primary sedimentological figures are well preserved. Within the section, a 600m long depression has been observed, in which a Gilbert-type delta has developed. Laterally, this delta evolves into prograding sheet-like structures interpreted as subaqueous fans. The corresponding facies association is composed of four main facies: -Matrix-supported coarse-grained facies (granules to cobbles) arranged in prograding sheet-like structures (dip angle 5-9° N160). -Massive sand to diffusely graded sand. -Coarse-to-medium sand facies with long wavelength ripples (1-2m), oriented N160. -Medium-to-coarse sand with climbing ripples and current ripples. These facies associations are characteristic of subaqueous (probably glaciolacustrine) environments. The transition from delta to fan delta has

As part of a large NERC funded project, seven areas around the Irish Sea were investigated in order to provide offshore field data on the depth and age of the relative sea-level (RSL) minimum since the post-Last Glacial Maximum (LGM). Such evidence is currently sparse, resulting in poorly constrained glacio-isostatic adjustment (GIA) models, particularly for areas where RSL was significantly lower than present during the Late Pleistocene and Early Holocene. We present offshore geomorphological and stratigraphic evidence for a lower than present sea level from SW Ireland (Bantry Bay), and compare our findings with the current GIA model. Data examined consists of: multibeam bathymetry and backscatter, pinger sub-bottom and vibrocores (25 sites). A bluff line in the outer bay detected on the multibeam in water depths of c. 80 m forms the western edge of a large sediment lobe. The south-western boundary of this lobe is marked by a series of long (up to 22 km), parallel ridges at depths between -96 m and -131 m, with iceberg scouring evident on the offshore margin. This sediment lobe is interpreted as the top of a lowstand delta with the ridges representing ice-marginal submarine morainic or deltaic sediments, reworked by stronger-than-present tidal currents during the lowstand (c. -80 m pre- 14.6 ka cal BP). The bluff line could then represent the eroded northern edge of this lowstand delta. The seismic data show a prominent unit, which can be traced throughout the basin, sitting on an erosional surface and characterised by a turbid acoustic signature. In the cores, this unit is identified as alternating sand and clay layers with some traces of organic material and gas. The micro-palaeontological data shows an increase in marine and estuarine foraminifera in this unit, becoming predominantly marine in the overlying sediments. Based on the integration of all data, we interpret the erosional surface as the transgressive surface, underlying intertidal-estuarine sediments

The glacial history of North-West Ireland and the adjoining continental shelf have been debated for over a century. The traditional reconstruction of a British-Irish Ice Sheet (BIIS) in this region was based predominantly on terrestrial evidence and showed an ice sheet that did not extend beyond the present coastline of Britain and Ireland. This traditional reconstruction of a relatively restricted ice sheet has been replaced in the last decade by the reconstruction of a more dynamic ice sheet that, during the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM), flowed onto the continental shelf and extended to the NW-Irish shelf edge. High resolution swath bathymetry and sub bottom profiler data along with sedimentological, micropalaeontological and geochronological investigations of sediment cores from the shelf offshore of NW Ireland are being used to reconstruct the timing, extent and the nature of retreat of the BIIS from the shelf following the LGM. A total of twenty seven vibro-cores were collected during two research cruises on the NW-Irish shelf in 2008 and 2014 on board the Irish and UK research vessels the Celtic Explorer and RRS James Cook The cores were collected in two east-west orientated transects across a series of arcuate recessional moraines from the shelf edge to Donegal Bay. These moraines record progressive stillstands of a lobate ice sheet margin during its retreat from the shelf edge, although to date, there has been a lack of direct dating control to constrain the timing and rate of ice retreat across the shelf. Sedimentary descriptions of core facies and physical properties, combined with taxonomic analysis of foraminifera will be presented along with radiocarbon dates. This forms the first detailed reconstruction of glacigenic sedimentation, depositional environments and the timing of ice sheet retreat across the shelf offshore of NW Ireland. The project is part of a larger EU funded research programme GLANAM ('Glaciated North Atlantic Margins') which is

Conservation policies usually focus on in situ protection of native populations, a priority that requires accurate assessment of population status. Distinction between native and introduced status can be particularly difficult (and at the same time, is most important) for species whose natural habitat has become both rare and highly fragmented. Here, we address the status of the white elm (Ulmus laevis Pallas), a European riparian tree species whose populations have been fragmented by human activity and is protected wherever it is considered native. Small populations of this species are located in Iberia, where they are unprotected because they are considered introductions due to their rarity. However, Iberia and neighbouring regions in southwestern France have been shown to support discrete glacial refuge populations of many European trees, and the possibility remains that Iberian white elms are native relicts. We used chloroplast RFLPs and nuclear microsatellites to establish the relationship between populations in Iberia and the Central European core distribution. Bayesian approaches revealed significant spatial structure across populations. Those in Iberia and southwestern France shared alleles absent from Central Europe, and showed spatial population structure within Iberia common in recognized native taxa. Iberian populations show a demographic signature of ancient population bottlenecks, while those in Central European show a signature of recent population bottlenecks. These patterns are not consistent with historical introduction of white elm to Iberia, and instead strongly support native status, arguing for immediate implementation of conservation measures for white elm populations in Spain and contiguous areas of southern France. PMID:24022495

Assessing species' range-wide cytoplasmic diversity provides valuable insights regarding their dispersal and adaptive potential in a changing environment. Transcontinental chloroplast (cpDNA) and mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) population structures were compared to identify putative ancestral and new cytoplasmic genome assemblages in black spruce (Picea mariana), a North American boreal conifer. Mean within-population diversity and allelic richness for cpSSR markers were 0.80 and 4.21, respectively, and diminished westward. Population differentiation based on G(ST) was lower for cpDNA than for mtDNA (G(ST) =0.104 and 0.645, respectively) but appeared comparable when estimated using Jost differentiation index (D=0.459 and 0.537, respectively). Further analyses resulted in the delineation of at least three genetically distinct cpDNA lineages partially congruent with those inferred from mtDNA data, which roughly corresponded to western, central and eastern Canada. Additionally, the patterns of variation in Alaska for both cpDNA and mtDNA markers suggested that black spruce survived the last glacial maximum in this northern region. The range-wide comparison of the geographic extent of cytoplasmic DNA lineages revealed that extensive pollen gene flow between ancestral lineages occurred preferentially from west to east during the postglacial expansion of the species, while seed-mediated gene flow remained geographically restricted. This differential gene flow promoted intraspecific cytoplasmic capture that generated new assemblages of cpDNA and mtDNA genomes during the Holocene. Hence, black spruce postglacial colonization unexpectedly resulted in an increase in genetic diversity with possible adaptive consequences. PMID:21044193

Historical climate changes and orogenesis are two important factors that have shaped intraspecific biodiversity patterns worldwide. Although southern South America has experienced such complex events, there is a paucity of studies examining the effects on intraspecific diversification in this part of the world. Liolaemus pictus is the southernmost distributed lizard in the Chilean temperate forest, whose genetic structure has likely been influenced by Pleistocene glaciations. We conducted a phylogeographic study of L. pictus in Chile and Argentina based on one mitochondrial and two nuclear genes recovering two strongly divergent groups, Northern and Southern clades. The first group is distributed from the northernmost limit of the species to the Araucanía region while the second group is distributed throughout the Andes and the Chiloé archipelago in Southern Chile. Our results suggest that L. pictus originated 751 Kya, with divergence between the two clades occurring in the late Pleistocene. Demographic reconstructions for the Northern and Southern clades indicate a decrease in effective population sizes likely associated with Pleistocene glaciations. Surprisingly, patterns of genetic variation, clades age and historical gene flow in populations distributed within the limits of the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) are not explained by recent colonization. We propose an “intra-Andean multiple refuge” hypothesis, along with the classical refuge hypothesis previously proposed for the biota of the Chilean Coastal range and Eastern Andean Cordillera. Our hypothesis is supported by niche modelling analysis suggesting the persistence of fragments of suitable habitat for the species within the limits of the LGM ice shield. This type of refuge hypothesis is proposed for the first time for an ectothermic species. PMID:23209552

Some decades ago, biogeographers distinguished three major faunal types of high importance for Europe: (i) Mediterranean elements with exclusive glacial survival in the Mediterranean refugia, (ii) Siberian elements with glacialrefugia in the eastern Palearctic and only postglacial expansion to Europe and (iii) arctic and/or alpine elements with large zonal distributions in the periglacial areas and postglacial retreat to the North and/or into the high mountain systems. Genetic analyses have unravelled numerous additional refugia both of continental and Mediterranean species, thus strongly modifying the biogeographical view of Europe. This modified notion is particularly true for the so-called Siberian species, which in many cases have not immigrated into Europe during the postglacial period, but most likely have survived the last, or even several glacial phases, in extra-Mediterranean refugia in some climatically favourable but geographically limited areas of southern Central and Eastern Europe. Recently, genetic analyses revealed that typical Mediterranean species have also survived the Last Glacial Maximum in cryptic northern refugia (e.g. in the Carpathians or even north of the Alps) in addition to their Mediterranean refuge areas. PMID:22953783

Bathymetric data were collected off the southwest coast of County Cork, Ireland by the joint INFOMAR project between the Marine Institute of Ireland and the Geologic Survey of Ireland. Data were collected using a Kongsberg EM2040 multibeam sonar on the R/V Celtic Voyager, in August and September 2014, and were post-processed with CARIS HIPS and SIPS 8.1 and 9.0 software to create 2D and 3D bathymetric surfaces. From the computer generated images, some of the lithologic formations were relatively aged and observed. The studied regions range in depth from 20 to 118 m, with shallower areas to the northeast. Several large rock outcrops occur, the larger of which shows a vertical rise of nearly 20 m. These outcrops are oriented in a northeast-southwest direction, and exhibit significant bed folding, regional folding, tilted beds, and cross joints. The folds studied are plunging chevron folds. These folds have a northeast-southwest fold axis orthogonal to the cross joints and are older relative to the jointing systems. The NE-SW joints are older than the NW-SE joints due to their correlation with drainage and erosion patterns. Regional folding is the youngest feature due to its superposition on the chevron folding and jointing systems. The interaction of cross jointing and folding is consistent with the geologic history of the area, and creates a unique bathymetry worthy of further study.

The extinction of large carnivores in Europe during the Quaternary is reviewed and the potential role of glacialrefugia in these extinctions is investigated using the VORTEX model for population viability analysis. A model was built for a medium sized big cat similar to the extinct Panthera gombaszoegensis utilising life history data from the modern jaguar Panthera onca. This approach highlighted the potential importance of glacialrefugia in the extinction process. Even model refugia the size of the Italian peninsula did not guarantee persistence of a population over a 1000 yr time span, illustrating the role of chance in survival in such a refugium. An area the size of the largest Mediterranean island was unable to support a big cat population for a period of 1000 yr. The models also demonstrated the importance of inbreeding as a mechanism for extinction in refugia. It is suggested that repeated genetic bottlenecks during successive glaciations would tend to remove lethal recessive alleles from the population, increasing the probability of survival in refugia in subsequent glaciations. The history of extinction of large carnivores in the European Quaternary is interpreted in the light of these results.

Background Pleistocene climatic oscillations have played a major role in structuring present-day biodiversity. The southern Mediterranean peninsulas have long been recognized as major glacialrefugia, from where Northern Europe was post-glacially colonized. However, recent studies have unravelled numerous additional refugia also in northern regions. We investigated the phylogeographic pattern of the widespread Western Palaearctic lizard Podarcis muralis, using a range-wide multilocus approach, to evaluate whether it is concordant with a recent expansion from southern glacialrefugia or alternatively from a combination of Mediterranean and northern refugia. Results We analyzed DNA sequences of two mitochondrial (cytb and nd4) and three nuclear (acm4, mc1r, and pdc) gene fragments in individuals from 52 localities across the species range, using phylogenetic and phylogeographic methods. The complex phylogeographic pattern observed, with 23 reciprocally monophyletic allo- parapatric lineages having a Pleistocene divergence, suggests a scenario of long-term isolation in multiple ice-age refugia across the species distribution range. Multiple lineages were identified within the three Mediterranean peninsulas – Iberia, Italy and the Balkans - where the highest genetic diversity was observed. Such an unprecedented phylogeographic pattern - here called “refugia within all refugia” – compasses the classical scenario of multiple southern refugia. However, unlike the southern refugia model, various distinct lineages were also found in northern regions, suggesting that additional refugia in France, Northern Italy, Eastern Alps and Central Balkans allowed the long-term persistence of this species throughout Pleistocene glaciations. Conclusions The phylogeography of Podarcis muralis provides a paradigm of temperate species survival in Mediterranean and extra-Mediterranean glacialrefugia. Such refugia acted as independent biogeographic compartments for the long

Brown bears recolonised Europe rapidly after the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM), but there has been debate about whether bear populations were confined to separate glacialrefugia in southern Europe, or if there was continuous gene flow among groups. To look in more detail at recolonisation routes into the British Isles after the LGM, 16 brown bear (Ursus arctos) samples from Lateglacial Yorkshire were analysed for mitochondrial DNA survival. The resulting data were compared with earlier work on Late Pleistocene and Holocene bears from Ireland (Edwards et al., 2011), as well as with both modern and ancient bears from across continental Europe. The results highlight the temporal and spatial continuity of brown bear maternal lineages through the Lateglacial period in northern England. While this region was not a refugial area in the LGM for the Irish Clade 2 brown bears, our data suggest that populations of brown bear in England did act as refugial sources for the later colonisation of Ireland, by Clade 1-i bears, during the Holocene. Our results contribute to a wider understanding of the phylogenetic relationships of brown bears through the Late Quaternary, and lend a valuable perspective on bear migration into peripheral Europe.

We are most grateful to Dr Edwards for her lucid summary of recent, calibrated dates for giant Irish deer, red deer, reindeer and brown bear in Irish deposits during the period before and after the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM). Montgomery et al. (2014) dealt largely with the period after the LGM because the physical evidence suggests Ireland was completely covered by ice for at least part of the period between 28 ka and 23 ka (Clark et al., 2012; O'Cofaigh et al., 2012) when Ireland would not have supported any terrestrial mammals. The earliest it was possible for re-colonisation of these species to occur after LGM was probably during the rapid retreat of ice after 23 ka and before 15 ka when the Irish Sea became a complete barrier to terrestrial mammals between Britain and Ireland. There are no dates for any of the four species during the LGM and only one for giant Irish deer (BM-1794, date 18,761-18,034 cal. BP) which is from a site close to the present coast just south of Dublin, between LGM and completion of the Irish Sea, suggesting that conditions generally remained unsuitable for even cold-adapted mammals for many millennia after LGM. Edwards (2014) indicates clearly that all four species are well represented after Ireland became an island although giant Irish deer struggle to make it into the Holocene and the red deer record is broken and perhaps influenced by people (Carden et al., 2012). The sudden reappearance of large mammals around 13-15 ka is consistent with re-colonisation from cryptic refugia lying to the south and west of present day Ireland. The relatively short periods of warming and cooling during the Older and Younger Dryas respectively, followed by warming in the Holocene and the arrival of Mesolithic and Neolithic people remain the major events in the history of Irish mammals until the late 19th Century to the present during which many mammals species have been introduced (Montgomery et al., 2014). Whilst events prior to the LGM are important

Refugia have long been studied from paleontological and biogeographical perspectives to understand how populations persisted during past periods of unfavorable climate. Recently, researchers have applied the idea to contemporary landscapes to identify climate change refugia, here defined as areas relatively buffered from contemporary climate change over time that enable persistence of valued physical, ecological, and socio-cultural resources. We differentiate historical and contemporary views, and characterize physical and ecological processes that create and maintain climate change refugia. We then delineate how refugia can fit into existing decision support frameworks for climate adaptation and describe seven steps for managing them. Finally, we identify challenges and opportunities for operationalizing the concept of climate change refugia. Managing climate change refugia can be an important option for conservation in the face of ongoing climate change. PMID:27509088

Refugia have long been studied from paleontological and biogeographical perspectives to understand how populations persisted during past periods of unfavorable climate. Recently, researchers have applied the idea to contemporary landscapes to identify climate change refugia, here defined as areas relatively buffered from contemporary climate change over time that enable persistence of valued physical, ecological, and socio-cultural resources. We differentiate historical and contemporary views, and characterize physical and ecological processes that create and maintain climate change refugia. We then delineate how refugia can fit into existing decision support frameworks for climate adaptation and describe seven steps for managing them. Finally, we identify challenges and opportunities for operationalizing the concept of climate change refugia. Managing climate change refugia can be an important option for conservation in the face of ongoing climate change. PMID:27509088

Global climate changes during the Quaternary reveal much about broader evolutionary effects of environmental change. Detailed regional studies reveal how evolutionary lineages and novel communities and ecosystems, emerge through glacial bottlenecks or from refugia. There have been significant advances in benthic imaging and dating, particularly with respect to the movements of the British (Scottish) and Irish ice sheets and associated changes in sea level during and after the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM). Ireland has been isolated as an island for approximately twice as long as Britain with no evidence of any substantial, enduring land bridge between these islands after ca 15 kya. Recent biogeographical studies show that Britain's mammal community is akin to those of southern parts of Scandinavia, The Netherlands and Belgium, but the much lower mammal species richness of Ireland is unique and needs explanation. Here, we consider physiographic, archaeological, phylogeographical i.e. molecular genetic, and biological evidence comprising ecological, behavioural and morphological data, to review how mammal species recolonized western Europe after the LGM with emphasis on Britain and, in particular, Ireland. We focus on why these close neighbours had such different mammal fauna in the early Holocene, the stability of ecosystems after LGM subject to climate change and later species introductions. There is general concordance of archaeological and molecular genetic evidence where data allow some insight into history after the LGM. Phylogeography reveals the process of recolonization, e.g. with respect to source of colonizers and anthropogenic influence, whilst archaeological data reveal timing more precisely through carbon dating and stratigraphy. More representative samples and improved calibration of the ‘molecular clock' will lead to further insights with regards to the influence of successive glaciations. Species showing greatest morphological, behavioural and

Lake sediment is an archive of climate variability reconstructed using proxy data such as stable isotope values and trace element chemistry. These proxy data permit reconstruction of temperature, precipitation, and terrestrial vegetation variability through time. Stable oxygen isotope values conflate temperature and water oxygen isotope variability, while carbon isotope values of marl provide a record of variability in dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC). An 8.67m core, obtained from Lough Monreagh, Western Ireland, contains marl ranging in age from about 17,300-7,894 cal yr B.P. Marl was analyzed at 1mm resolution for stable oxygen and carbon isotope values. Variation in sedimentation rate results in samples that represent up to five years at minimum resolution and as little as four months at highest resolution. Oxygen isotope values decrease at 13,500 yr B.P. from -3.5 to -5 per mil VPDB inferring a decrease in temperature followed by a warming period consistent with previous interpretations of the Older Dryas. Another decrease in oxygen isotope values (-3.9 to -7.0 per mil VPDB) occurs from 12,800-11,500 yr B.P. indicating a significant decrease in temperature consistent with the Younger Dryas. Carbon isotope values increase between 17,200-14,000 yr B.P. from 3.6 to 6.0 per mil VPDB suggesting high productivity is forcing the carbon isotope values of DIC higher than bedrock values, contrary to ostracod population data that suggest low productivity. Carbon isotope values decrease between 12,800-11,500 from 4.0 to 3.0 per mil VPDB coincident with the Younger Dryas clay layer, a time where marl was not produced in the lake. A 6 per mil decrease in carbon isotope values between 11,262-10860 yr B.P. from 4 to -2 per mil VPDB indicates a significant increase in terrestrial vegetation. Sample to sample variability nearing the top of the core is higher due to increased sedimentation rate and concomitantly the sample resolution increases. This study represents the highest

Recent evidence suggests that survival of arctic-alpine organisms in peripheral or interior glacialrefugia are not mutually exclusive and may both be involved in shaping an organism's Pleistocene history, yet potentially at different time levels. Here, we test this hypothesis in a high-mountain plant (diploid lineage of Senecio carniolicus, Asteraceae) from the Eastern European Alps, in which patterns of morphological variation and current habitat requirements suggest survival in both types of refugia. To this end, we used AFLPs, nuclear and plastid DNA sequences and analysed them, among others, within a graph theoretic framework and using novel Bayesian methods of phylogeographic inference. On the basis of patterns of genetic diversity, occurrence of rare markers, distribution of distinct genetic lineages and patterns of range connectivity both interior refugia in the formerly strongly glaciated central Alps and peripheral refugia along the southern margin of the Alps were identified. The presence of refugia congruently inferred by markers resolving at different time levels suggests that these refugia acted as such throughout several glacial cycles. The high degree of range persistence together with gradual range expansion, which contrasts with the extent of range shifts implied for other Alpine species, is likely responsible for incipient lineage differentiation evident from the genetic data. Replacing a simplistic peripheral vs. interior refugia dualism by more complex models involving both types of refugia and considering different time levels will help identifying common phylogeographic patterns with respect to, for instance, location of refugia and colonization routes and elucidating their underlying genetic and/or ecological causes. DNA sequences have been deposited in GenBank under accession nos. FR796701–FR797793 and nos. HE614296–HE614583. PMID:22276934

Recent evidence suggests that survival of arctic-alpine organisms in peripheral or interior glacialrefugia are not mutually exclusive and may both be involved in shaping an organism’s Pleistocene history, yet potentially at different time levels. Here, we test this hypothesis in a high-mountain plant (diploid lineage of Senecio carniolicus, Asteraceae) from the Eastern European Alps, in which patterns of morphological variation and current habitat requirements suggest survival in both types of refugia. To this end, we used AFLPs, nuclear and plastid DNA sequences and analysed them, among others, within a graph theoretic framework and using novel Bayesian methods of phylogeographic inference. On the basis of patterns of genetic diversity, occurrence of rare markers, distribution of distinct genetic lineages and patterns of range connectivity both interior refugia in the formerly strongly glaciated central Alps and peripheral refugia along the southern margin of the Alps were identified. The presence of refugia congruently inferred by markers resolving at different time levels suggests that these refugia acted as such throughout several glacial cycles. The high degree of range persistence together with gradual range expansion, which contrasts with the extent of range shifts implied for other Alpine species, is likely responsible for incipient lineage differentiation evident from the genetic data. Replacing a simplistic peripheral vs. interior refugia dualism by more complex models involving both types of refugia and considering different time levels will help identifying common phylogeographic patterns with respect to, for instance, location of refugia and colonization routes and elucidating their underlying genetic and/or ecological causes. PMID:22276934

Ecological niche models (ENMs) provide a means of characterizing the spatial distribution of suitable conditions for species, and have recently been applied to the challenge of locating potential distributional areas at the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) when unfavorable climate conditions led to range contractions and fragmentation. Here, we compare and contrast ENM-based reconstructions of LGM refugial locations with those resulting from the more traditional molecular genetic and phylogeographic predictions. We examined 20 North American terrestrial vertebrate species from different regions and with different range sizes for which refugia have been identified based on phylogeographic analyses, using ENM tools to make parallel predictions. We then assessed the correspondence between the two approaches based on spatial overlap and areal extent of the predicted refugia. In 14 of the 20 species, the predictions from ENM and predictions based on phylogeographic studies were significantly spatially correlated, suggesting that the two approaches to development of refugial maps are converging on a similar result. Our results confirm that ENM scenario exploration can provide a useful complement to molecular studies, offering a less subjective, spatially explicit hypothesis of past geographic patterns of distribution. PMID:17622339

An endemic family of subterranean amphipods (Crustacea) has recently been discovered in Iceland, in addition to a new species of a previously known amphipod family. These findings are remarkable because Iceland was covered by glaciers from about 2.6 million BP to about 10,000 BP and is isolated on the mid-Atlantic Ridge, far from the North American and European continents. We argue that there were subglacial refugia in Iceland during the Quaternary glacial period. The presence of subterranean amphipods, belonging to an old group with its present distribution mainly in North America and the Eurasian continent, indicates past contact of subterranean fresh waters of Iceland and the North Atlantic continent. The amphipods currently found in Iceland may have been present in Greenland at 40 Ma, when the precursor of Iceland drifted together with the hot spot (Iceland plume) from Greenland. PMID:17874379

Sequence stratigraphic analysis of Pennsylvanian coal-bearing strata suggests that glacial-interglacial fluctuations at high latitudes drove cyclic changes in tropical biomes. A literature review of plant assemblages in this paleoclimatic context suggests that coal forests dominated during humid interglacial phases, but were replaced by seasonally dry vegetation during glacial phases. After each glacial event, coal forests reassembled with largely the same species composition. This remarkable stasis implies that coal-forest refugia existed across the equatorial landscape during glacial phases, expanding to repopulate lowlands during and following deglaciation. One possibility is that refugia comprised small pockets of wetland forest strung out along valleys at some sites, but data are currently insufficient to test this hypothesis. The model presented here, if accepted, dramatically alters our understanding of the coal forests and helps explain aspects of their dynamics.

Phylogeographic patterns of many taxa are explained by Pleistocene glaciation. The temperate rainforests within the Pacific Northwest of North America provide an excellent example of this phenomenon, and competing phylogenetic hypotheses exist regarding the number of Pleistocene refugia influencing genetic variation of endemic organisms. One such endemic is the Pacific giant salamander, Dicamptodon tenebrosus. In this study, we estimate this species' phylogeny and use a coalescent modeling approach to test five hypotheses concerning the number, location and divergence times of purported Pleistocene refugia. Single refugium hypotheses include: a northern refugium in the Columbia River Valley and a southern refugium in the Klamath-Siskiyou Mountains. Dual refugia hypotheses include these same refugia but separated at varying times: last glacial maximum (20,000 years ago), mid-Pleistocene (800,000 years ago) and early Pleistocene (1.7 million years ago). Phylogenetic analyses and inferences from nested clade analysis reveal distinct northern and southern lineages expanding from the Columbia River Valley and the Klamath-Siskiyou Mountains, respectively. Results of coalescent simulations reject both single refugium hypotheses and the hypothesis of dual refugia with a separation date in the late Pleistocene but not hypotheses predicting dual refugia with separation in early or mid-Pleistocene. Estimates of time since divergence between northern and southern lineages also indicate separation since early to mid-Pleistocene. Tests for expanding populations using mismatch distributions and 'g' distributions reveal demographic growth in the northern and southern lineages. The combination of these results provides strong evidence that this species was restricted into, and subsequently expanded from, at least two Pleistocene refugia in the Pacific Northwest. PMID:16842421

The localization of Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) refugia is crucial information to understand a species' history and predict its reaction to future climate changes. However, many phylogeographical studies often lack sampling designs intensive enough to precisely localize these refugia. The hairy land snail Trochulus villosus has a small range centred on Switzerland, which could be intensively covered by sampling 455 individuals from 52 populations. Based on mitochondrial DNA sequences (COI and 16S), we identified two divergent lineages with distinct geographical distributions. Bayesian skyline plots suggested that both lineages expanded at the end of the LGM. To find where the origin populations were located, we applied the principles of ancestral character reconstruction and identified a candidate refugium for each mtDNA lineage: the French Jura and Central Switzerland, both ice-free during the LGM. Additional refugia, however, could not be excluded, as suggested by the microsatellite analysis of a population subset. Modelling the LGM niche of T. villosus, we showed that suitable climatic conditions were expected in the inferred refugia, but potentially also in the nunataks of the alpine ice shield. In a model selection approach, we compared several alternative recolonization scenarios by estimating the Akaike information criterion for their respective maximum-likelihood migration rates. The 'two refugia' scenario received by far the best support given the distribution of genetic diversity in T. villosus populations. Provided that fine-scale sampling designs and various analytical approaches are combined, it is possible to refine our necessary understanding of species responses to environmental changes. PMID:18422928

Climate change has played a critical role in the evolution and structure of Earth's biodiversity. Geothermal activity, which can maintain ice-free terrain in glaciated regions, provides a tantalizing solution to the question of how diverse life can survive glaciations. No comprehensive assessment of this "geothermal glacialrefugia" hypothesis has yet been undertaken, but Antarctica provides a unique setting for doing so. The continent has experienced repeated glaciations that most models indicate blanketed the continent in ice, yet many Antarctic species appear to have evolved in almost total isolation for millions of years, and hence must have persisted in situ throughout. How could terrestrial species have survived extreme glaciation events on the continent? Under a hypothesis of geothermal glacialrefugia and subsequent recolonization of nongeothermal regions, we would expect to find greater contemporary diversity close to geothermal sites than in nongeothermal regions, and significant nestedness by distance of this diversity. We used spatial modeling approaches and the most comprehensive, validated terrestrial biodiversity dataset yet created for Antarctica to assess spatial patterns of diversity on the continent. Models clearly support our hypothesis, indicating that geothermally active regions have played a key role in structuring biodiversity patterns in Antarctica. These results provide critical insights into the evolutionary importance of geothermal refugia and the history of Antarctic species. PMID:24616489

The role of Pleistocene forest refugia and rivers in the evolutionary diversification of tropical biota has been the subject of considerable debate. A range-wide analysis of gorilla mitochondrial and nuclear variation was used to test the potential role of both refugia and rivers in shaping genetic diversity in current populations. Results reveal strong patterns of regional differentiation that are consistent with refugial hypotheses for central Africa. Four major mitochondrial haplogroups are evident with the greatest divergence between eastern (A, B) and western (C, D) gorillas. Coalescent simulations reject a model of recent east–west separation during the last glacial maximum but are consistent with a divergence time within the Pleistocene. Microsatellite data also support a similar regional pattern of population genetic structure. Signatures of demographic expansion were detected in eastern lowland (B) and Gabon/Congo (D3) mitochondrial haplogroups and are consistent with a history of postglacial expansion from formerly isolated refugia. Although most mitochondrial haplogroups are regionally defined, limited admixture is evident between neighboring haplogroups. Mantel tests reveal a significant isolation-by-distance effect among western lowland gorilla populations. However, mitochondrial genetic distances also correlate with the distance required to circumnavigate intervening rivers, indicating a possible role for rivers in partitioning gorilla genetic diversity. Comparative data are needed to evaluate the importance of both mechanisms of vicariance in other African rainforest taxa. PMID:18077351

Between 51.5 and 55.5 degrees north latitude, Ireland could easily find itself buried in snow during the winter, but the island's average temperature in January is 7 degrees Celsius (45 degrees Fahrenheit). Ireland's mild climate results from the influence of the ocean current known as the North Atlantic Drift, which extends the warm waters of the Gulf Stream northward. The island enjoys mild temperatures in the summertime as well; extreme heat and cold are virtually unknown. Precipitation ranges from 78.5 centimeters (31 inches) around Dublin to 300 centimeters (118 inches) along the west coast. The mild, rainy climate is good for vegetation. In this image from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA's Terra satellite on May 2, 2007, Ireland overwhelms the viewer with hues of green, particularly in the interior, where the vegetation overlies lowlands of limestone--the remains of marine animals from an ancient sea. Little of the island's famous greenness results from trees, however. Seventeenth-century clearing removed most of the country's forests, and despite replanting efforts, Ireland is Europe's least forested country, after Iceland. The island's mild temperatures and humidity have instead blanketed the landscape in abundant grasses. Along Ireland's west coast, bare brown rocks emerge from the plant cover. In the north, the rocks are primarily ancient, crystalline rocks deposited well over a billion years ago. In the south, the rocks are primarily sandstone deposited roughly 350 million years ago. Evidence of urbanization dots the landscape, especially along the east coast. The metropolitan area of Dublin appears as an uneven patch of gray, mingled with dots of green. Human habitation is also evident around Londonderry, Belfast, and Cork.

The dynamic geologic history of the southeastern United States has played a major role in shaping the geographic distributions of amphibians in the region. In the phylogeographic literature, the predominant pattern of distribution shifts through time of temperate species is one of contraction during glacial maxima and persistence in refugia. However, the diverse biology and ecology of amphibian species suggest that a “one-size-fits-all” model may be inappropriate. Nearly 10% of amphibian species in the region have a current distribution comprised of multiple disjunct, restricted areas that resemble the shape of Pleistocene refugia identified for other temperate taxa in the literature. Here, we apply genetics and spatially explicit climate analyses to test the hypothesis that the disjunct regions of these species ranges are climatic refugia for species that were more broadly distributed during glacial maxima. We use the salamander Plethodon serratus as a model, as its range consists of four disjunct regions in the Southeast. Phylogenetic results show that P. serratus is comprised of multiple genetic lineages, and the four regions are not reciprocally monophyletic. The Appalachian salamanders form a clade sister to all other P. serratus. Niche and paleodistribution modeling results suggest that P. serratus expanded from the Appalachians during the cooler Last Glacial Maximum and has since been restricted to its current disjunct distribution by a warming climate. These data reject the universal applicability of the glacial contraction model to temperate taxa and reiterate the importance of considering the natural history of individual species. PMID:26132077

Pleistocene ice-ages greatly influenced the historical abundances of Pacific cod, Gadus macrocephalus, in the North Pacific and its marginal seas. We surveyed genetic variation at 11 microsatellite loci and mitochondrial (mt) DNA in samples from twelve locations from the Sea of Japan to Washington State. Both microsatellite (mean H = 0.868) and mtDNA haplotype (mean h = 0.958) diversities were large and did not show any geographical trends. Genetic differentiation between samples was significantly correlated with geographical distance between samples for both microsatellites (FST = 0.028, r(2) = 0.33) and mtDNA (FST = 0.027, r(2) = 0.18). Both marker classes showed a strong genetic discontinuity between northwestern and northeastern Pacific populations that likely represents groups previously isolated during glaciations that are now in secondary contact. Significant differences appeared between samples from the Sea of Japan and Okhotsk Sea that may reflect ice-age isolations in the northwest Pacific. In the northeast Pacific, a microsatellite and mtDNA partition was detected between coastal and Georgia Basin populations. The presence of two major coastal mtDNA lineages on either side of the Pacific Ocean basin implies at least two ice-age refugia and separate postglacial population expansions facilitated by different glacial histories. Northward expansions into the Gulf of Alaska were possible 14-15 kyr ago, but deglaciation and colonization of the Georgia Basin probably occurred somewhat later. Population expansions were evident in mtDNA mismatch distributions and in Bayesian skyline plots of the three major lineages, but the start of expansions appeared to pre-date the last glacial maximum. PMID:20819160

Global climate changes during the Quaternary reveal much about broader evolutionary effects of environmental change. Detailed regional studies reveal how evolutionary lineages and novel communities and ecosystems, emerge through glacial bottlenecks or from refugia. There have been significant advances in benthic imaging and dating, particularly with respect to the movements of the British (Scottish) and Irish ice sheets and associated changes in sea level during and after the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM). Ireland has been isolated as an island for approximately twice as long as Britain with no evidence of any substantial, enduring land bridge between these islands after ca 15 kya. Recent biogeographical studies show that Britain's mammal community is akin to those of southern parts of Scandinavia, The Netherlands and Belgium, but the much lower mammal species richness of Ireland is unique and needs explanation. Here, we consider physiographic, archaeological, phylogeographical i.e. molecular genetic, and biological evidence comprising ecological, behavioural and morphological data, to review how mammal species recolonized western Europe after the LGM with emphasis on Britain and, in particular, Ireland. We focus on why these close neighbours had such different mammal fauna in the early Holocene, the stability of ecosystems after LGM subject to climate change and later species introductions. There is general concordance of archaeological and molecular genetic evidence where data allow some insight into history after the LGM. Phylogeography reveals the process of recolonization, e.g. with respect to source of colonizers and anthropogenic influence, whilst archaeological data reveal timing more precisely through carbon dating and stratigraphy. More representative samples and improved calibration of the ‘molecular clock' will lead to further insights with regards to the influence of successive glaciations. Species showing greatest morphological, behavioural and

We studied the genetic population structure and phylogeography of the montane caddisfly Drusus discolor across its entire range in central and southern Europe. The species is restricted to mountain regions and exhibits an insular distribution across the major mountain ranges. Mitochondrial sequence data (COI) of 254 individuals from the entire species range is analysed to reveal population genetic structure. The data show little molecular variation within populations and regions, but distinct genetic differentiation between mountain ranges. Most populations are significantly differentiated based on F(ST) and exact tests of population differentiation and most haplotypes are unique to a single mountain range. Phylogenetic analyses reveal deep divergence between geographically isolated lineages. Combined, these results suggest that past fragmentation is the prominent process structuring the populations across Europe. We use tests of selective neutrality and mismatch distributions, to study the demographic population history of regions with haplotype overlap. The high level of genetic differentiation between mountain ranges and estimates of demographic history provide evidence for the existence of multiple glacialrefugia, including several in central Europe. The study shows that these aquatic organisms reacted differently to Pleistocene cooling than many terrestrial species. They persisted in numerous refugia over multiple glacial cycles, allowing many local endemic clades to form. PMID:16780432

A phylogeographical study of the Russian (Siberian) flying squirrel (Pteromys volans) was carried out using the complete mitochondrial (mt) cytochrome b gene sequences with special reference to the refugia theory for the arboreal traits of this species. We examined 31 specimens from 24 localities, resulting in 28 haplotypes. One breeding specimen with a unique haplotype from Hokkaido, Japan was included in the phylogenetic analysis. There were three mtDNA lineages: Hokkaido, Far Eastern, and northern Eurasia. Divergence data among lineages demonstrated that the Hokkaido group separated from the other groups during the Holsteinian interglacial. The phylogeographical pattern of P. volans is different from that previously reported for terrestrial rodents associated with treeless habitats. Unlike grasslands, forests decreased during glaciation and moved southward because of the cold and arid environmental conditions. The glacialrefugia of P. volans would have been associated with forest dynamics in the Pleistocene. PMID:15773945

Climate change has played a critical role in the evolution and structure of Earth’s biodiversity. Geothermal activity, which can maintain ice-free terrain in glaciated regions, provides a tantalizing solution to the question of how diverse life can survive glaciations. No comprehensive assessment of this “geothermal glacial refugia” hypothesis has yet been undertaken, but Antarctica provides a unique setting for doing so. The continent has experienced repeated glaciations that most models indicate blanketed the continent in ice, yet many Antarctic species appear to have evolved in almost total isolation for millions of years, and hence must have persisted in situ throughout. How could terrestrial species have survived extreme glaciation events on the continent? Under a hypothesis of geothermal glacialrefugia and subsequent recolonization of nongeothermal regions, we would expect to find greater contemporary diversity close to geothermal sites than in nongeothermal regions, and significant nestedness by distance of this diversity. We used spatial modeling approaches and the most comprehensive, validated terrestrial biodiversity dataset yet created for Antarctica to assess spatial patterns of diversity on the continent. Models clearly support our hypothesis, indicating that geothermally active regions have played a key role in structuring biodiversity patterns in Antarctica. These results provide critical insights into the evolutionary importance of geothermal refugia and the history of Antarctic species. PMID:24616489

Rare mitochondrial lineages with relict distributions can sometimes be disproportionately informative about deep events in human prehistory. We have studied one such lineage, haplogroup R0a, which uniquely is most frequent in Arabia and the Horn of Africa, but is distributed much more widely, from Europe to India. We conclude that: (1) the lineage ancestral to R0a is more ancient than previously thought, with a relict distribution across the Mediterranean/Southwest Asia; (2) R0a has a much deeper presence in Arabia than previously thought, highlighting the role of at least one Pleistocene glacial refugium, perhaps on the Red Sea plains; (3) the main episode of dispersal into Eastern Africa, at least concerning maternal lineages, was at the end of the Late Glacial, due to major expansions from one or more refugia in Arabia; (4) there was likely a minor Late Glacial/early postglacial dispersal from Arabia through the Levant and into Europe, possibly alongside other lineages from a Levantine refugium; and (5) the presence of R0a in Southwest Arabia in the Holocene at the nexus of a trading network that developed after ~3 ka between Africa and the Indian Ocean led to some gene flow even further afield, into Iran, Pakistan and India. PMID:27146119

Rare mitochondrial lineages with relict distributions can sometimes be disproportionately informative about deep events in human prehistory. We have studied one such lineage, haplogroup R0a, which uniquely is most frequent in Arabia and the Horn of Africa, but is distributed much more widely, from Europe to India. We conclude that: (1) the lineage ancestral to R0a is more ancient than previously thought, with a relict distribution across the Mediterranean/Southwest Asia; (2) R0a has a much deeper presence in Arabia than previously thought, highlighting the role of at least one Pleistocene glacial refugium, perhaps on the Red Sea plains; (3) the main episode of dispersal into Eastern Africa, at least concerning maternal lineages, was at the end of the Late Glacial, due to major expansions from one or more refugia in Arabia; (4) there was likely a minor Late Glacial/early postglacial dispersal from Arabia through the Levant and into Europe, possibly alongside other lineages from a Levantine refugium; and (5) the presence of R0a in Southwest Arabia in the Holocene at the nexus of a trading network that developed after ~3 ka between Africa and the Indian Ocean led to some gene flow even further afield, into Iran, Pakistan and India. PMID:27146119

Species that inhabit naturally fragmented environments are expected to be spatially structured and exhibit reduced genetic diversity at the periphery of their range. Patterns of differentiation may also reflect historical processes such as recolonization from glacialrefugia. We examined the relative importance of these factors in shaping the spatial patterns of genetic differentiation across the range of an alpine specialist, the North American mountain goat (Oreamnos americanus). Contrary to fossil evidence that suggests a single southern refugium, we detected evidence for additional refugia in northern British Columbia and the Alaskan coast using both mitochondrial and microsatellite DNA. A core area of elevated genetic diversity characterized both regions, and molecular dating suggested a recent Pleistocene split was followed by demographic expansion. Across their range, mountain goats were highly genetically structured and displayed the expected pattern of declining diversity toward the periphery. Gene flow was high within contiguous mountain ranges, but cross-assignments paradoxically suggest that long-distance contemporary dispersal movements are not uncommon. These results improve our understanding of how historical vicariance and contemporary fragmentation influence population differentiation, and have implications for conserving the adaptive potential of alpine populations and habitat. PMID:20731714

Managing forested ecosystems in western North America for adaptation to climate change involves options that depend on resource objectives, landscape conditions, sensitivity to change, and social desires. Strategies range from preserving species and ecosystems in the face of change (resisting change); managing for resilience to change; realigning ecosystems that have been severely altered so that they can adapt successfully; and enabling species to respond to climate changes. We are exploring one extreme in this range of strategies, that is, to manage locations, species, communities, or ecosystems as refugia. This concept is familiar from the Quaternary literature as isolated locations where climates remained warm during cold glacial intervals and wherein species contracted and persisted in small populations. References to refugia have been made in the climate-adaptation literature but little elaborated, and applications have not been described. We are addressing this gap conceptually and in case-studies from national forest and national park environments in California. Using a classification of refugium categories, we extend the concept beyond the original use to include diverse locations and conditions where plant or animal species, or ecosystems of concern, would persist during future changing climatic backgrounds. These locations may be determined as refugial for reasons of local microclimate, substrate, elevation, topographic context, paleohistory, species ecology, or management capacity. Recognizing that species and ecosystems respond to climate change differently, refugium strategies are appropriate in some situations and not others. We describe favorable conditions for using refugium strategies and elaborate specific approaches in Sierra Nevada case studies.

A continuous pollen history of more than 40,000 years was obtained from a lake in the lowland Amazon rain forest. Pollen spectra demonstrate that tropical rain forest occupied the region continuously and that savannas or grasslands were not present during the last glacial maximum. The data suggest that the western Amazon forest was not fragmented into refugia in glacial times and that the lowlands were not a source of dust. Glacial age forests were comparable to modern forests but also included species now restricted to higher evaluations by temperature, suggesting a cooling of the order of 5{degrees} to 6{degrees}C. 23 refs., 22 tabs.

Genetic variation and geographical structuring of vimba Vimba vimba were analysed across 26 sites (80 individuals) by means of mtDNA sequences (cyt b gene, mitochondrial control region) to localize hypothesized glacialrefugia and to reconstruct postglacial recoloniation routes. Although genetic diversity among sequenced individuals was low, a combined analysis of the two sequenced fragments revealed a western (central and northern Europe: Danube, Elbe and lakes of Sweden) and an eastern clade (eastern Europe: Dnieper-South Bug, Don, Neman). Furthermore, a number of divergent ancestral haplotypes distributed around the Black and Caspian Seas became apparent. Mismatch analyses supported a sudden expansion model for the populations of the western clade between 50 and 10 000 bp. Overall, the study provides strong evidence for a northward and westward expansion of V. vimba from two refugial regions located in the Danubian drainage and the northern Pontic regions respectively. PMID:20738686

Climate change refugia, areas relatively buffered from contemporary climate change so as to increase persistence of valued physical, ecological, and cultural resources, are considered as potential adaptation options in the face of anthropogenic climate change. In a collaboration ...

Whether mesophotic reefs will behave as refugia for corals threatened by global climate change and coastal development depends on vertical exchange of larvae between diverse habitats. Here we use a biophysical model of larval dispersal to estimate vertical connectivity of a broadcasting ( Orbicella faveolata) and a brooding ( Porites astreoides) species of coral in the US Virgin Islands. Modeling predicts subsidy to shallow areas by mesophotic larvae of both species based on local hydrology, adult reproductive characteristics, larval traits, and a wide range of scenarios developed to test depth-sensitive factors, such as fertilization rates and post-settlement survivorship. In extreme model scenarios of reduced fertilization and post-settlement survivorship of mesophotic larvae, 1-10 % local mesophotic subsidy to shallow recruitment is predicted for both species, which are demographically significant. Although direct vertical connectivity is higher for the broadcaster, the brooder demonstrates higher local multigenerational vertical connectivity, which suggests that local P. astreoides populations are more resilient than those of O. faveolata, and corroborates field studies. As shallow habitat degrades, mesophotic-shallow subsidy is predicted to increase for both species. This study is the first of its kind to simulate larval dispersal and settlement between habitats of different depths, and these findings have local, regional, and global implications for predicting and managing coral reef persistence in a changing climate.

This paper considers the evolution of Homo sapiens in eastern Africa in relation to refugia and bottlenecks around ˜200 ka BP, at a macro scale. Middle Stone Age (MSA) lithics, site distributions and locations are analysed in relation to palaeovegetation maps of the last glacial/interglacial cycle, which are used as a proxy for earlier climate cycles. A "push and pull" model is then postulated for the spread of Homo sapiens out of refugia in eastern Africa, involving both volcanism (push) and habitat availability (pull). A date within OIS 5 is suggested for this expansion to other parts of the continent, and potentially further afield, contrary to a frequently proposed expansion within OIS 3.

Climate change refugia, areas on the landscape buffered from recent shifts in temperature and precipitation patterns, are potentially important to understand population responses to anthropogenic climate change. With funding from the California Landscape Conservation Cooperative and the National Science Foundation, we used occupancy and genetic data to test the climate change refugia concept. Specifically, we estimated connectivity between Sierra Nevada meadows based on features such as topography and hydrology and determined the amount of change that meadows experienced during the 20th century. We then examined fine-scale population genetic structure across the California range of a montane meadow specialist, the Belding's ground squirrel (Urocitellus beldingi). We found distinctive genetic structure across the state as well as within the smaller geographic area of the central Sierra Nevada. Genetic diversity between survey sites predicted climate change refugia and population persistence supported hypothetical landscape connectivity. Our results highlight an important tool in climate change adaptation, given the limited resources available to land managers.

A variety of refugia were offered to different instars of brown recluse spiders, Loxosceles reclusa Gertsch and Mulaik, and a South American recluse spider, L. laeta (Nicolet), to determine whether they preferred certain types of refugia spaces. Variables included (1) crevice widths ranging from 3.2 to 21 mm, (2) horizontal and vertical orientations, and (3) new refugia or refugia that had silk deposited by a previous conspecific resident. An additional 30-d assay with similar-sized refugia studied each species' propensity for site fidelity or movement among refugia. L. reclusa preferred crevice widths > or = 9 mm with no correlation of body size to crevice width, whereas L. laeta preferred crevice sizes > or = 6.4 mm with a marginally significant correlation between crevice width and body size. Both species preferred (1) vertical instead of horizontal-oriented refugia and (2) refugia with conspecific silk compared with previously uninhabited refugia. There was no significant difference between the species in their propensity to move among refugia in the 30-d trial; however, both species had individuals that were always found in the same refugium for the entire assay and individuals changing refugia every 2-3 d. The propensity to switch refugia was not affected by the degree of starvation for the period tested as was initially hypothesized. The possible implications of this research toward developing novel control measures for Loxosceles spiders are discussed. PMID:18283940

Cedefop - European Centre for the Development of Vocational Training, 2013

2013-01-01

This paper provides an overview of VET (vocational education and training) in Ireland. In Ireland, the main providers of VET are the national Training and Employment Authority (FAS--a non-commercial semi-State body, part of the public sector) and vocational education committees (VECs--public sector bodies at county level responsible for vocational…

This article will outline the current status of gifted education in Ireland. To fully understand the picture, one needs to look at the history of the Irish education system and how educational decisions are made in the country. Political climate is often an important factor in how people view special education programs and Ireland is no different…

This study provides a profile of the educational system of Ireland. It is intended as background reading for University of West Florida officials involved with evaluating applications for admission of students from Ireland. The Irish educational system can be divided into primary (elementary), post primary (secondary), and tertiary education…

Studies based on contemporary plant occurrences and pollen fossil records have proposed that the current disjunct distribution of seasonally dry tropical forests (SDTFs) across South America is the result of fragmentation of a formerly widespread and continuously distributed dry forest during the arid climatic conditions associated with the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM), which is known as the modern-day dry forest refugia hypothesis. We studied the demographic history of Tabebuia rosealba (Bignoniaceae) to understand the disjunct geographic distribution of South American SDTFs based on statistical phylogeography and ecological niche modeling (ENM). We specifically tested the dry forest refugia hypothesis; i.e., if the multiple and isolated patches of SDTFs are current climatic relicts of a widespread and continuously distributed dry forest during the LGM. We sampled 235 individuals across 18 populations in Central Brazil and analyzed the polymorphisms at chloroplast (trnS-trnG, psbA-trnH and ycf6-trnC intergenic spacers) and nuclear (ITS nrDNA) genomes. We performed coalescence simulations of alternative hypotheses under demographic expectations from two a priori biogeographic hypotheses (1. the Pleistocene Arc hypothesis and, 2. a range shift to Amazon Basin) and other two demographic expectances predicted by ENMs (3. expansion throughout the Neotropical South America, including Amazon Basin, and 4. retraction during the LGM). Phylogenetic analyses based on median-joining network showed haplotype sharing among populations with evidence of incomplete lineage sorting. Coalescent analyses showed smaller effective population sizes for T. roseoalba during the LGM compared to the present-day. Simulations and ENM also showed that its current spatial pattern of genetic diversity is most likely due to a scenario of range retraction during the LGM instead of the fragmentation from a once extensive and largely contiguous SDTF across South America, not supporting the South

Studies based on contemporary plant occurrences and pollen fossil records have proposed that the current disjunct distribution of seasonally dry tropical forests (SDTFs) across South America is the result of fragmentation of a formerly widespread and continuously distributed dry forest during the arid climatic conditions associated with the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM), which is known as the modern-day dry forest refugia hypothesis. We studied the demographic history of Tabebuia rosealba (Bignoniaceae) to understand the disjunct geographic distribution of South American SDTFs based on statistical phylogeography and ecological niche modeling (ENM). We specifically tested the dry forest refugia hypothesis; i.e., if the multiple and isolated patches of SDTFs are current climatic relicts of a widespread and continuously distributed dry forest during the LGM. We sampled 235 individuals across 18 populations in Central Brazil and analyzed the polymorphisms at chloroplast (trnS-trnG, psbA-trnH and ycf6-trnC intergenic spacers) and nuclear (ITS nrDNA) genomes. We performed coalescence simulations of alternative hypotheses under demographic expectations from two a priori biogeographic hypotheses (1. the Pleistocene Arc hypothesis and, 2. a range shift to Amazon Basin) and other two demographic expectances predicted by ENMs (3. expansion throughout the Neotropical South America, including Amazon Basin, and 4. retraction during the LGM). Phylogenetic analyses based on median-joining network showed haplotype sharing among populations with evidence of incomplete lineage sorting. Coalescent analyses showed smaller effective population sizes for T. roseoalba during the LGM compared to the present-day. Simulations and ENM also showed that its current spatial pattern of genetic diversity is most likely due to a scenario of range retraction during the LGM instead of the fragmentation from a once extensive and largely contiguous SDTF across South America, not supporting the South

This study sought to identify climate-change thermal-stress refugia for reef corals in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. A species distribution modeling approach was used to identify refugia for 12 coral species that differed considerably in their local response to thermal stress. We hypothesized that the local response of coral species to thermal stress might be similarly reflected as a regional response to climate change. We assessed the contemporary geographic range of each species and determined their temperature and irradiance preferences using a k-fold algorithm to randomly select training and evaluation sites. That information was applied to downscaled outputs of global climate models to predict where each species is likely to exist by the year 2100. Our model was run with and without a 1°C capacity to adapt to the rising ocean temperature. The results show a positive exponential relationship between the current area of habitat that coral species occupy and the predicted area of habitat that they will occupy by 2100. There was considerable decoupling between scales of response, however, and with further ocean warming some 'winners' at local scales will likely become 'losers' at regional scales. We predicted that nine of the 12 species examined will lose 24-50% of their current habitat. Most reductions are predicted to occur between the latitudes 5-15°, in both hemispheres. Yet when we modeled a 1°C capacity to adapt, two ubiquitous species, Acropora hyacinthus and Acropora digitifera, were predicted to retain much of their current habitat. By contrast, the thermally tolerant Porites lobata is expected to increase its current distribution by 14%, particularly southward along the east and west coasts of Australia. Five areas were identified as Indian Ocean refugia, and seven areas were identified as Pacific Ocean refugia for reef corals under climate change. All 12 of these reef-coral refugia deserve high-conservation status. PMID:25646684

The identification of past glacialrefugia has become a key topic for conservation under environmental change, since they contribute importantly to shaping current patterns of biodiversity. However, little attention has been paid so far to interglacial refugia despite their key role for the survival of relict species currently occurring in climate refugia. Here, we focus on the genetic consequences of range contraction on the relict populations of the evergreen shrub Myrtus nivellei, endemic in the Saharan mountains since at least the end of the last Green Sahara period, around 5.5 ka B.P. Multilocus genotypes (nuclear microsatellites and AFLP) were obtained from 215 individuals collected from 23 wadis (temporary rivers) in the three main mountain ranges in southern Algeria (the Hoggar, Tassili n’Ajjer and Tassili n’Immidir ranges). Identical genotypes were found in several plants growing far apart within the same wadis, a pattern taken as evidence of clonality. Multivariate analyses and Bayesian clustering revealed that genetic diversity was mainly structured among the mountain ranges, while low isolation by distance was observed within each mountain range. The range contraction induced by the last episode of aridification has likely increased the genetic isolation of the populations of M. nivellei, without greatly affecting the genetic diversity of the species as a whole. The pattern of genetic diversity observed here suggests that high connectivity may have prevailed during humid periods, which is consistent with recent paleoenvironmental reconstructions. PMID:24058489

Climate change in the Arctic is a growing concern for natural resource conservation and management as a result of accelerated warming and associated shifts in the distribution and abundance of northern species. We introduce a predictive framework for assessing the future extent of Arctic tundra and boreal biomes in northern Alaska. We use geo-referenced museum specimens to predict the velocity of distributional change into the next century and compare predicted tundra refugial areas with current land-use. The reliability of predicted distributions, including differences between fundamental and realized niches, for two groups of species is strengthened by fossils and genetic signatures of demographic shifts. Evolutionary responses to environmental change through the late Quaternary are generally consistent with past distribution models. Predicted future refugia overlap managed areas and indicate potential hotspots for tundra diversity. To effectively assess future refugia, variable responses among closely related species to climate change warrants careful consideration of both evolutionary and ecological histories.

Phylogeographic studies of flora in species-rich south-western Australia point to complex evolutionary histories, reflecting patterns of persistence and resilience to climatic changes during the Pleistocene. We asked whether coastal areas of the mid-west and south, as well as granite outcrops and inland ranges, have acted as major refugia within this region during Pleistocene climatic fluctuations by analysing phylogeographic patterns in the shrub Calothamnus quadrifidus R.Br. (Myrtaceae). We determined variation in chloroplast DNA data for 41 populations across the geographic range. Relationships and major clades were resolved using parsimony and Bayesian analyses. We tested for demographic and spatial expansion of the major clades and estimated clade divergence dates using an uncorrelated, lognormal relaxed clock based on two conservative chloroplast mutation rates. Two distinct phylogeographic clades were identified showing divergence during the Pleistocene, consistent with other phylogeographic studies of south-west Australian flora, emphasising the impact of climatic oscillations in driving divergence in this landscape. The southern clade was more diverse, having higher haplotype diversity and greater genetic structure, while the northern clade showed evidence of fluctuation in population size. Regions of high haplotype diversity with adjacent areas of low diversity observed in each clade indicated the locations of two coastal refugia: one on the south coast and another along the mid-west coast. This is the first evidence for major Pleistocene refugia using chloroplast genetic data in a common, widespread species from this region. PMID:24984607

Phylogeographic studies of flora in species-rich south-western Australia point to complex evolutionary histories, reflecting patterns of persistence and resilience to climatic changes during the Pleistocene. We asked whether coastal areas of the mid-west and south, as well as granite outcrops and inland ranges, have acted as major refugia within this region during Pleistocene climatic fluctuations by analysing phylogeographic patterns in the shrub Calothamnus quadrifidus R.Br. (Myrtaceae). We determined variation in chloroplast DNA data for 41 populations across the geographic range. Relationships and major clades were resolved using parsimony and Bayesian analyses. We tested for demographic and spatial expansion of the major clades and estimated clade divergence dates using an uncorrelated, lognormal relaxed clock based on two conservative chloroplast mutation rates. Two distinct phylogeographic clades were identified showing divergence during the Pleistocene, consistent with other phylogeographic studies of south-west Australian flora, emphasising the impact of climatic oscillations in driving divergence in this landscape. The southern clade was more diverse, having higher haplotype diversity and greater genetic structure, while the northern clade showed evidence of fluctuation in population size. Regions of high haplotype diversity with adjacent areas of low diversity observed in each clade indicated the locations of two coastal refugia: one on the south coast and another along the mid-west coast. This is the first evidence for major Pleistocene refugia using chloroplast genetic data in a common, widespread species from this region. PMID:24984607

Deeper coral reefs experience reduced temperatures and light and are often shielded from localized anthropogenic stressors such as pollution and fishing. The deep reef refugia hypothesis posits that light-dependent stony coral species at deeper depths are buffered from thermal stress and will avoid bleaching-related mass mortalities caused by increasing sea surface temperatures under climate change. This hypothesis has not been tested because data collection on deeper coral reefs is difficult. Here we show that deeper (mesophotic) reefs, 30-75 m depth, in the Caribbean are not refugia because they have lower bleaching threshold temperatures than shallow reefs. Over two thermal stress events, mesophotic reef bleaching was driven by a bleaching threshold that declines 0.26 °C every +10 m depth. Thus, the main premise of the deep reef refugia hypothesis that cooler environments are protective is incorrect; any increase in temperatures above the local mean warmest conditions can lead to thermal stress and bleaching. Thus, relatively cooler temperatures can no longer be considered a de facto refugium for corals and it is likely that many deeper coral reefs are as vulnerable to climate change as shallow water reefs. PMID:26648385

The concept of refugia has been discussed from theoretical and paleontological perspectives to address how populations persisted during periods of unfavorable climate. Recently, several studies have applied the idea to contemporary landscapes to identify locations that are buffered from climate change effects so as to favor greater persistence of valued resources relative to other areas. Refugia are now being discussed among natural resource agencies as a potential adaptation option in the face of anthropogenic climate change. Using downscaled climate data, we identified hypothetical refugial meadows in the Sierra Nevada and then tested them using survey and genetic data from Belding's ground squirrel (Urocitellus beldingi) populations. We predicted that refugial meadows would show higher genetic diversity, higher rates of occupancy and lower rates of extirpation over time. At each step of the research, we worked with managers to ensure the largest impact. Although no panacea, identifying climate change refugia could be an important strategy for prioritizing habitats for management intervention in order to conserve populations. This research was supported by the California LCC, the Northeast Climate Science Center, and NSF.

In the last decade, community development in Ireland has emphasized social and economic inclusion, regeneration, and civic participation. Continuing challenges include designation of diverse community representatives, demand for increased administrative efficiency, and management of mandates and accountability. There are more community development…

Counseling in Ireland has experienced rapid growth in the past 30 years. Public attitudes toward counseling have become more positive, especially with the increasing secularization of a once strongly religious Catholic society. Licensure is nonexistent but there are certification bodies that attempt to ensure qualified practice. There is no…

Substantial legal barriers to abortion persist in both the Irish Republic and Northern Ireland, despite growing popular support for abortion under certain conditions. A 1983 amendment to the republic's constitution guarantees the fetus the same right to life s the mother and bans the provision of information on abortion. Although a recent well publicized case of a pregnant, suicidal 14-year-old who travelled to England for an abortion resulted in an Irish Supreme Court ruling that abortion was acceptable in cases of "real and substantial risk" to a woman's life, uncertainty still surrounds the right to travel to England for the procedure. In Northern Ireland, the 1967 Abortion Act does not apply and abortions are denied even in cases of rape and incest. A total of 1766 women from Northern Ireland and 4158 from the republic travelled to England for abortions in 1991. Public opinion seems to have shifted toward support for less restrictive abortion laws, however. Whereas 80% of those surveyed in a 1980 Irish poll supported to ban on abortion in all cases, this statistic had dropped to 30% by 1990. Similarly, a 1991 poll taken in Northern Ireland found 80% of respondents to be a favor of abortion in cases where the procedure is necessary to maintain a woman's physical or mental health. PMID:1392954

This monograph, one of a series of studies of vocational education in the countries of the European Communities, describes the vocational training system in Ireland. The study was compiled from existing statistics and descriptions, and most figures cited refer to 1984. The report is organized in eight chapters. Chapter 1 covers population,…

Over the past 15 years or so, individual governments worldwide have put an unprecedented focus on educational policy in an effort to ensure the acquisition of literacy skills for all children, recognising underachievement in literacy as a universal social justice issue preventing many individuals from reaching their promise. In Ireland, literacy…

Protecting unionid populations as zebra mussels spread into inland waterways has relied mainly on relocating at-risk animals into aquaculture facilities. While such relocations are the only viable management technique for some populations, facility availability is limited, leaving many unionids facing extirpation. Another management strategy is in-situ protection either by enhancing natural refugia or by creating managed refugia. We have reviewed all reports of natural refugia and found that refugia for unionids can be found in many areas. There are many habitats where zebra mussel colonization has been limited, or of a temporary nature. Within zebra mussel infested areas, unionid communities continue to survive in some shallow water sites such as estuaries, deltas, and lake-connected wetlands. Managed refugia can be created in areas where natural refugia do not exist. We present a case study on recent efforts to create refugia in an area with rapidly expanding zebra mussel populations. Preliminary analysis of unionid body condition indicates that removal of encrusted zebra mussels only once a year can improve unionid condition factors and decrease mortality. Natural and managed refugia can provide an additional conservation management option in some areas.

The recognition and protection of climate refugia has been proposed as a potential adaptation strategy that may be useful for protecting the biotic integrity of watersheds under a changing climate. Climate refugia are areas that are buffered from climate change effects relative t...

Managing climate refugia has been proposed as a potential adaptation strategy that may be useful for protecting the biotic integrity of watersheds under a changing climate. Paleo-ecological evidence suggests that refugia allowed species to persist through prior periods of climate...

In 1999 the Irish Government initiated a €32 million survey of its territorial waters known as the Irish National Seabed Survey (INSS). The INSS is amongst the largest marine mapping programmes ever undertaken anywhere in the world and provides high-resolution multibeam, backscatter and seismic data of the seabed around Ireland. These data have been used to provide the first clear evidence for extensive glaciation of the continental shelf west and northwest of Ireland. Streamlined drumlins on the mid to outer shelf record former offshore-directed ice flow towards the shelf edge and show that the ice sheet was grounded in a zone of confluence where ice flowing onto the shelf from northwest Ireland merged with ice flowing across the Malin Shelf from southwest Scotland. The major glacial features on the shelf are well developed nested arcuate moraine systems that mark the position of the ice sheet margin and confirm that the former British Irish Ice Sheet was grounded as far as the shelf edge around 100 km offshore of west Donegal at the last glacial maximum. Distal to the moraines, on the outermost shelf, prominent zones of iceberg plough marks give way to the Barra/Donegal fan and a well developed system of gullies and canyons which incise the continental slope. Since 2008 several scientific cruises have retrieved cores from the shelf and slope to help build a more detailed understanding of glacial events in this region. This presentation will provide an overview of the glacial history of the Irish shelf and will discuss ongoing research programmes that are building on the initial research findings to produce a better understanding of the nature and timing of ice sheet events in this region.

The mountains of southwest China (MSC) harbor extremely high species diversity; however, the mechanism behind this diversity is unknown. We investigated to what degree the topography and climate change shaped the genetic diversity and diversification in these mountains, and we also sought to identify the locations of microrefugia areas in these mountains. For these purposes, we sampled extensively to estimate the intraspecific phylogenetic pattern of the Chinese mole shrew (Anourosorex squamipes) in southwest China throughout its range of distribution. Two mitochondrial genes, namely, cytochrome b (CYT B) and NADH dehydrogenase subunit 2 (ND2), from 383 archived specimens from 43 localities were determined for phylogeographic and demographic analyses. We used the continuous-diffusion phylogeographic model, extensive Bayesian skyline plot species distribution modeling (SDM) and approximate Bayesian computation (ABC) to explore the changes in population size and distribution through time of the species. Two phylogenetic clades were identified, and significantly higher genetic diversity was preserved in the southern subregion of the mountains. The results of the SDM, continuous-diffusion phylogeographic model, extensive Bayesian skyline plot and ABC analyses were congruent and supported that the Last Interglacial Maximum (LIG) was an unfavorable period for the mole shrews because of a high degree of seasonality; A. squamipes survived in isolated interglacial refugia mainly located in the southern subregion during the LIG and rapidly expanded during the last glacial period. These results furnished the first evidence for major Pleistocene interglacial refugia and a latitudinal effect in southwest China, and the results shedding light on the higher level of species richness in the southern subregion. PMID:26286667

Located off the northwestern coast of the European mainland, Britain and Ireland were among the last regions of Europe to be colonized by modern humans after the last glacial maximum. Further, the geographical location of Britain, and in particular of Ireland, is such that the impact of historical migration has been minimal. Genetic diversity studies applying the Y chromosome and mitochondrial systems have indicated reduced diversity and an increased population structure across Britain and Ireland relative to the European mainland. Such characteristics would have implications for genetic mapping studies of complex disease. We set out to further our understanding of the genetic architecture of the region from the perspective of (i) population structure, (ii) linkage disequilibrium (LD), (iii) homozygosity and (iv) haplotype diversity (HD). Analysis was conducted on 3654 individuals from Ireland, Britain (with regional sampling in Scotland), Bulgaria, Portugal, Sweden and the Utah HapMap collection. Our results indicate a subtle but clear genetic structure across Britain and Ireland, although levels of structure were reduced in comparison with average cross-European structure. We observed slightly elevated levels of LD and homozygosity in the Irish population compared with neighbouring European populations. We also report on a cline of HD across Europe with greatest levels in southern populations and lowest levels in Ireland and Scotland. These results are consistent with our understanding of the population history of Europe and promote Ireland and Scotland as relatively homogenous resources for genetic mapping of rare variants. PMID:20571510

Pennsylvanian tropical rain forests flourished during an icehouse climate mode. Although it is well established that Milankovitch-band glacial-interglacial rhythms caused marked synchronous changes in Pennsylvanian tropical climate and sea level, little is known of vegetation response to orbital forcing. This knowledge gap has now been addressed through sequence- stratigraphic analysis of megafloral and palynofloral assemblages within the Westphalian D Cantabrian Sydney Mines Formation of eastern Canada. This succession was deposited in a low- accommodation setting where sequences can be attributed confidently to glacio-eustasy. Results show that long-lived, low-diversity peat mires dominated by lycopsids were initiated during deglaciation events, but were mostly drowned by rising sea level at maximum interglacial conditions. Only upland coniferopsid forests survived flooding without significant disturbance. Mid- to late interglacial phases witnessed delta-plain progradation and establishment of high-diversity, mineral-substrate rain forests containing lycopsids, sphenopsids, pteridosperms, cordaites, and tree ferns. Renewed glaciation resulted in sea-level fall, paleovalley incision, and the onset of climatic aridity. Glacial vegetation was dominated by cordaites, pteridosperms, and tree ferns; hydrophilic lycopsids and sphenopsids survived in paleovalley refugia. Findings clearly demonstrate the dynamic nature of Pennsylvanian tropical ecosystems and are timely given current debates about the impact of Quaternary glacial-interglacial rhythms on the biogeography of tropical rain forest.

The Irish National Liver Transplant program commenced in 1993 in St. Vincent's University Hospital in Dublin. It is an adult-only program and is the only liver transplant program in Ireland. Pediatric recipients are referred to King's College Hospital in the United Kingdom. To date, almost 1000 adult liver transplants have been performed. Current 1-year patient survival is 93%, and 5-year survival is 79%. The program is fully funded by the government health service. There is a close collaboration with the United Kingdom Organ Donation and Transplant Directorate, and there is an arrangement for organ sharing for super-urgent transplants. Traditionally, organ donation rates have been high in Ireland. However, demand for liver transplant has increased over the past 20 years, and waiting lists are now lengthening. Deceased cardiac death donation is now being considered, but there are no plans for living related donor liver transplant. Donor coordinators have recently been appointed to the major hospitals in Ireland, and it is hoped that this initiative will lead to an increase in organ donation rates. Liver Transplantation 22 1014-1018 2016 AASLD. PMID:27065358

We review current phylogeographic knowledge from across the Antarctic terrestrial landscape with a focus on springtail taxa. We describe consistent patterns of high genetic diversity and structure among populations which have persisted in glacialrefugia across Antarctica over both short (<2 Mya) and long (>10 Mya) timescales. Despite a general concordance of results among species, we explain why location is important in determining population genetic patterns within bioregions. We complete our review by drawing attention to the main limitations in the field of Antarctic phylogeography, namely that the scope of geographic focus is often lacking within studies, and that large gaps remain in our phylogeographic knowledge for most terrestrial groups. PMID:26467614

This study proposes a new hypothesis: Debris-covered glaciers served as Pleistocene biological refugia. This is based on detailed studies of vascular plant growth on six debris-mantled glaciers, literally around the world, as well as many casual observations also across the globe. We find that such glaciers are quite common and are distributed globally. Using Carbon Glacier, Mount Rainier, U.S.A., as a type locality and case study, we show aspects of the floristic and structural diversity as well as spatial patterns of plant growth on the glacier surface. Migration strategies, root characteristics, and origin and dispersal strategies for vascular plant species are documented. Also reported are special microclimatic conditions in these areas allowing for this remarkable plant ecology. We find that alpine taxa can grow considerably below their usual altitudinal niche due to the cooler subsurface soil temperatures found on glacial debris with ice underneath, and that may have significantly altered the spatial distribution of such flora during full glacial conditions. This in turn creates previously undocumented areas from which alpine, and perhaps arctic, plant species reestablished in post-glacial time. This hypothesis is complementary to both the nunatak hypothesis and tabula rasa theory and possibly helps solve the ongoing controversy between them. ?? 2007 Regents of the University of Colorado.

Climate change threatens to create fundamental shifts in in the distributions and abundances of endothermic organisms such as cold-water salmon and trout species (salmonids). Recently published projected declines in mid-latitude salmonid distributions under future climates range from modest to severe, depending on modeling approaches, assumptions, and spatial context of analyses. Given these projected losses, increased emphasis on management for ecosystem resilience to help buffer cold-water fish populations and their habitats against climate change is emerging. Using terms such as "climate-proofing", "climate-ready", and "climate refugia", such efforts stake a claim for an adaptive, anticipatory planning response to the climate change threat. To be effective, such approaches will need to address critical uncertainties in both the physical basis for projected landscape changes in water temperature and streamflow, as well as the biological responses of organisms. Recent efforts define future potential climate refugia based on projected streamflows, air temperatures, and associated water temperature changes. These efforts reflect the relatively strong conceptual foundation for linkages between regional climate change and local hydrological responses and thermal dynamics. Yet important questions remain. Drawing on case studies throughout the Pacific Northwest, we illustrate some key uncertainties in the responses of salmonids and their habitats to altered hydro-climatic regimes currently not well addressed by physical or ecological models. Key uncertainties include biotic interactions, organismal adaptive capacity, local climate decoupling due to groundwater-surface water interactions, the influence of human engineering responses, and synergies between climatic and other stressors. These uncertainties need not delay anticipatory planning, but rather highlight the need for identification and communication of actions with high probabilities of success, and targeted

The aim of this study was to evaluate the recovery and survival of four species of unionid mussles [pimpleback, Quadrula pustulosa pustulosa (I. Lea, 1831); spike, Elliptio dilatata (Rafinesque, 1820); Higgins eye, Lampsilis higginsii (I. Lea, 1857); and pocketbook, Lampsilis cardium (Rafinesque, 1820)] that were experimentally relocated to in situ refugia in the St Croix River of Minnesota and Wisconsin, USA. In 1996, 150 mussels of each of the first three species (450 total) were relocated to three 5 x 5 m study grids (Site A), one near Lakeland, Minnesota, which served as a source-site control, and two in the experimental refuge 48 km upstream, near Franconia, Minnesota. In a second relocation in 1997, L. Cardium was substituted for L. Higginsii and 150 mussels of this and each of the other two species (450 total), were relocated to two study grids (Site B). The source site control was near Sunrise, Minnesota and the experimental refuge was 14 km downstream near Almelund, Minnesota. Mussel recovery, survival and substratum characteristics were evaluated annually at Site A for 2 years and for 3 years at Site B. Mean annual recovery of all three species ranged from 90 to 100% at Site A, and from 34 to 70% at site B. The mean annual survival of recaptured mussels ranged from 85 to 100% at Site A, and from 88 to 100% at Site B. The textural characteristics of the substratum differed significantly between the control and the two refuge locations at the beginning of the study, but did not differ from this initial status among subsequent years at Site A. At Site B, there was a significant shift in textural characteristics from large to smaller fractions over the four years. The relatively high survival of mussels during this study demonstrates the importance of proper handling and transport protocols when relocating mussels and the selection of suitable relocation habitat with stable substratum. When established correctly, in situ refugia may be a viable tool for

The aim of this study was to evaluate the recovery and survival of four species of unionid mussles [pimpleback, Quadrula pustulosa pustulosa (I. Lea, 1831); spike, Elliptio dilatata (Rafinesque, 1820); Higgins eye, Lampsilis higginsii (I. Lea, 1857); and pocketbook, Lampsilis cardium (Rafinesque, 1820)] that were experimentally relocated to in situ refugia in the St Croix River of Minnesota and Wisconsin, USA. In 1996, 150 mussels of each of the first three species (450 total) were relocated to three 5 ?? 5 m study grids (Site A), one near Lakeland, Minnesota, which served as a source-site control, and two in the experimental refuge 48 km upstream, near Franconia, Minnesota. In a second relocation in 1997, L. cardium was substituted for L. higginsii and 150 mussels of this and each of the other two species (450 total), were relocated to two study grids (Site B). The source site control was near Sunrise, Minnesota and the experimental refuge was 14 km downstream near Almelund, Minnesota. Mussel recovery, survival and substratum characteristics were evaluated annually at Site A for 2 years and for 3 years at Site B. Mean annual recovery of all three species ranged from 90 to 100% at Site A, and from 34 to 70% at site B. The mean annual survival of recaptured mussels ranged from 85 to 100% at Site A, and from 88 to 100% at Site B. The textural characteristics of the substratum differed significantly between the control and the two refuge locations at the beginning of the study, but did not differ from this initial status among subsequent years at Site A. At Site B, there was a significant shift in textural characteristics from large to smaller fractions over the four years. The relatively high survival of mussels during this study demonstrates the importance of proper handling and transport protocols when relocating mussels and the selection of suitable relocation habitat with stable substratum. When established correctly, in situ refugia may be a viable tool for

Understanding the mechanisms of past climate changes requires modelling of the complex interaction between all major components of the Earth system: atmosphere, ocean, cryosphere, lithosphere and biosphere. This paper reviews attempts at such an integrative approach to modelling climate changes during the glacial age. In particular, the roles of different factors in shaping glacial climate are compared based on the results of simulations with an Earth-system model of intermediate complexity, CLIMBER-2. It is shown that ice sheets, changes in atmospheric compositions, vegetation cover, and reorganization of the ocean thermohaline circulation play important roles in glacial climate changes. Another example of this approach is the modelling of two major types of abrupt glacial climate changes: Dansgaard-Oeschger and Heinrich events. Our results corroborate some of the early proposed mechanisms, which relate abrupt climate changes to the internal instability of the ocean thermohaline circulation and ice sheets. At the same time, it is shown that realistic representation of the temporal evolution of the palaeoclimatic background is crucial to simulate observed features of the glacial abrupt climate changes. PMID:14558899

Understanding the history of forests and their species' demographic responses to past disturbances is important for predicting impacts of future environmental changes. Tropical rainforests of the Guineo-Congolian region in Central Africa are believed to have survived the Pleistocene glacial periods in a few major refugia, essentially centred on mountainous regions close to the Atlantic Ocean. We tested this hypothesis by investigating the phylogeographic structure of a widespread, ancient rainforest tree species, Symphonia globulifera L. f. (Clusiaceae), using plastid DNA sequences (chloroplast DNA [cpDNA], psbA-trnH intergenic spacer) and nuclear microsatellites (simple sequence repeats, SSRs). SSRs identified four gene pools located in Benin, West Cameroon, South Cameroon and Gabon, and São Tomé. This structure was also apparent at cpDNA. Approximate Bayesian Computation detected recent bottlenecks approximately dated to the last glacial maximum in Benin, West Cameroon and São Tomé, and an older bottleneck in South Cameroon and Gabon, suggesting a genetic effect of Pleistocene cycles of forest contraction. CpDNA haplotype distribution indicated wide-ranging long-term persistence of S. globulifera both inside and outside of postulated forest refugia. Pollen flow was four times greater than that of seed in South Cameroon and Gabon, which probably enabled rapid population recovery after bottlenecks. Furthermore, our study suggested ecotypic differentiation-coastal or swamp vs terra firme-in S. globulifera. Comparison with other tree phylogeographic studies in Central Africa highlighted the relevance of species-specific responses to environmental change in forest trees. PMID:23572126

Understanding the history of forests and their species' demographic responses to past disturbances is important for predicting impacts of future environmental changes. Tropical rainforests of the Guineo-Congolian region in Central Africa are believed to have survived the Pleistocene glacial periods in a few major refugia, essentially centred on mountainous regions close to the Atlantic Ocean. We tested this hypothesis by investigating the phylogeographic structure of a widespread, ancient rainforest tree species, Symphonia globulifera L. f. (Clusiaceae), using plastid DNA sequences (chloroplast DNA [cpDNA], psbA-trnH intergenic spacer) and nuclear microsatellites (simple sequence repeats, SSRs). SSRs identified four gene pools located in Benin, West Cameroon, South Cameroon and Gabon, and São Tomé. This structure was also apparent at cpDNA. Approximate Bayesian Computation detected recent bottlenecks approximately dated to the last glacial maximum in Benin, West Cameroon and São Tomé, and an older bottleneck in South Cameroon and Gabon, suggesting a genetic effect of Pleistocene cycles of forest contraction. CpDNA haplotype distribution indicated wide-ranging long-term persistence of S. globulifera both inside and outside of postulated forest refugia. Pollen flow was four times greater than that of seed in South Cameroon and Gabon, which probably enabled rapid population recovery after bottlenecks. Furthermore, our study suggested ecotypic differentiation—coastal or swamp vs terra firme—in S. globulifera. Comparison with other tree phylogeographic studies in Central Africa highlighted the relevance of species-specific responses to environmental change in forest trees. PMID:23572126

Vegetation change on all relevant temporal scales is assumed to be primarily driven by contemporary climate change, which would imply that vegetation-climate feedbacks become effective without long-term delay. However, our results from multivariate analyses of pollen assemblages from Lake Eĺgygytgyn (NE Siberia) and other data covering the Mid-Pliocene-Warm-Period and the Plio-Pleistocene-Transition challenge this concept of broad-scale vegetation-climate equilibrium. Our results indicate that interglacial vegetation during the Plio-Pleistocene transition mainly reflects the condition of the preceding glacial instead of contemporary interglacial climate. We assume that the observed vegetation-climate disequilibrium, in particular the absence of pine and spruce in interglacials following strong glacial stages, originates from the combined effects of permafrost persistence, distant glacialrefugia, and fire plus possible interactions. Our results imply that today's widespread larch ecosystem on permafrost is not in climate-equilibrium but rather represents a transient vegetation type which is still responding to the extreme glacial condition of the last glacial. This also implies that feedback between vegetation and climate and between permafrost and climate in northern mid- and high latitudes becomes active with long-term delay, which is of relevance for global climate change.

Artificial pipe-like refugia have been used for more than 40 years in anuran studies, and have captured 28 species, primarily (82%) hylid treefrogs. Early pipe-like refugia were made using cut pieces of bamboo in the tropical forests of Puerto Rico, but most recent studies have used synthetic pipes and have occurred primarily in the southeastern United States. Characteristics of artificial refugia (e.g., color, length, and diameter), and their placement in the environment have varied greatly among studies, making comparisons difficult. Here, we summarize and evaluate different pipe designs and placement, address potential concerns when using artificial pipe-like refugia, and suggest studies necessary to better interpret the data gained from this technique in anuran studies.

This editorial reports that leaders of the antiabortion movement have visited Northern and Southern Ireland to share their protest tactics with colleagues. This paper also comments on the irony of the issue of violent actions of antiabortion activists. Joe Scheidler and Patrick Mahoney, both militant American antiabortion leaders, may have spoken of saving lives in the island but they will sow the same divisiveness and a climate of hate they have helped create in the US. These leaders, particularly Scheidler, have ties with the most violent member of the movement, Michael Bray. Bray has served in prison for the bombing of ten abortion clinics in Washington, DC. He believes that any action undertaken in opposition to abortion is justified and condones the murder of doctors and nurses who provide abortions. A most realistic evidence of abortion violence in America is the one committed against Emily Lyons. She was maimed and blinded in one eye by a bomb blast that shattered an Alabama abortion clinic in 1998. These examples should serve as warning to the citizens of Ireland about the presence of the leaders in their country. Political and religious leaders should provide condemnation of their violent ways in the strongest possible terms. PMID:12178908

Understanding how past climate changes affected biodiversity is a key issue in contemporary ecology and conservation biology. These diversity changes are, however, difficult to reconstruct from paleoecological sources alone, because macrofossil and pollen records do not provide complete information about species assemblages. Ecologists therefore use information from modern analogues of past communities in order to get a better understanding of past diversity changes. Here we compare plant diversity, species traits and environment between late-glacial Abies, early-Holocene Quercus, and mid-Holocene warm-temperate Carpinus forest refugia on Jeju Island, Korea in order to provide insights into postglacial changes associated with their replacement. Based on detailed study of relict communities, we propose that the late-glacial open-canopy conifer forests in southern part of Korean Peninsula were rich in vascular plants, in particular of heliophilous herbs, whose dramatic decline was caused by the early Holocene invasion of dwarf bamboo into the understory of Quercus forests, followed by mid-Holocene expansion of strongly shading trees such as maple and hornbeam. This diversity loss was partly compensated in the Carpinus forests by an increase in shade-tolerant evergreen trees, shrubs and lianas. However, the pool of these species is much smaller than that of light-demanding herbs, and hence the total species richness is lower, both locally and in the whole area of the Carpinus and Quercus forests. The strongly shading tree species dominating in the hornbeam forests have higher leaf tissue N and P concentrations and smaller leaf dry matter content, which enhances litter decomposition and nutrient cycling and in turn favored the selection of highly competitive species in the shrub layer. This further reduced available light and caused almost complete disappearance of understory herbs, including dwarf bamboo. PMID:22438890

Mesic southeastern Australia represents the continent's ancestral biome and is highly biodiverse, yet its phylogeographic history remains poorly understood. Here, we examine mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) control region and microsatellite diversity in the brush-tailed rock-wallaby (Petrogale penicillata;n = 279 from 31 sites), to assess historic evolutionary and biogeographic processes in southeastern Australia. Our results (mtDNA, microsatellites) confirmed three geographically discrete and genetically divergent lineages within brush-tailed rock-wallabies, whose divergence appears to date to the mid-Pleistocene. These three lineages had been hypothesized previously but data were limited. While the Northern and Central lineages were separated by a known biogeographic barrier (Hunter Valley), the boundary between the Central and Southern lineages was not. We propose that during particularly cool glacial cycles, the high peaks of the Great Dividing Range and the narrow adjacent coastal plain resulted in a more significant north–south barrier for mesic taxa in southeastern Australia than has been previously appreciated. Similarly, located phylogeographic breaks in codistributed species highlight the importance of these regions in shaping the distribution of biodiversity in southeastern Australia and suggest the existence of three major refuge areas during the Pleistocene. Substructuring within the northern lineage also suggests the occurrence of multiple local refugia during some glacial cycles. Within the three major lineages, most brush-tailed rock-wallaby populations were locally highly structured, indicating limited dispersal by both sexes. The three identified lineages represent evolutionarily significant units and should be managed to maximize the retention of genetic diversity within this threatened species. PMID:24772286

The Moscovian plant macroflora at Cottage Grove southeastern Illinois, USA, is a key example of Pennsylvanian (323–299 Million years ago) dryland vegetation. There is currently no palynological data from the same stratigraphic horizons as the plant macrofossils, leaves and other vegetative and reproductive structures, at this locality. Consequently, reconstructions of the standing vegetation at Cottage Grove from these sediments lack the complementary information and a more regional perspective that can be provided by sporomorphs (prepollen, pollen, megaspores and spores). In order to provide this, we have analysed the composition of fossil sporomorph assemblages in two rock samples taken from macrofossil-bearing inter-coal shale at Cottage Grove. Our palynological data differ considerably in composition and in the dominance-diversity profile from the macrofossil vegetation at this locality. Walchian conifers and pteridosperms are common elements in the macroflora, but are absent in the sporomorph assemblages. Reversely, the sporomorph assemblages at Cottage Grove comprise 17 spore taxa (∼16% and ∼63% of the total assemblages) that are known from the lycopsid orders Isoetales, Lepidodendrales and Selaginallales, while Cottage Grove’s macrofloral record fails to capture evidence of a considerable population of coal forest lycopsids. We interpret our results as evidence that the Pennsylvanian dryland glacial landscape at Cottage Grove included fragmented populations of wetland plants living in refugia. PMID:25392752

We report the phylogeographic pattern of the Patagonian and Subantarctic plant Hypochaeris incana endemic to southeastern South America. We applied amplified fragment length polymorphism (AFLP) and chloroplast DNA (cpDNA) analysis to 28 and 32 populations, respectively, throughout its distributional range and assessed ploidy levels using flow cytometry. While cpDNA data suggest repeated or simultaneous parallel colonization of Patagonia and Tierra del Fuego by several haplotypes and/or hybridization, AFLPs reveal three clusters corresponding to geographic regions. The central and northern Patagonian clusters (approximately 38-51 degrees S), which are closer to the outgroup, contain mainly tetraploid, isolated and highly differentiated populations with low genetic diversity. To the contrary, the southern Patagonian and Fuegian cluster (approximately 51-55 degrees S) contains mainly diploid populations with high genetic diversity and connected by high levels of gene flow. The data suggest that H. incana originated at the diploid level in central or northern Patagonia, from where it migrated south. All three areas, northern, central and southern, have similar levels of rare and private AFLP bands, suggesting that all three served as refugia for H. incana during glacial times. In southern Patagonia and Tierra del Fuego, the species seems to have expanded its populational system in postglacial times, when the climate became warmer and more humid. In central and northern Patagonia, the populations seem to have become restricted to favourable sites with increasing temperature and decreasing moisture and there was a parallel replacement of diploids by tetraploids in local populations. PMID:19674310

This study investigates the genetic diversity, population structure and demographic history of the afrotropical butterfly Bicyclus anynana using mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA). Samples from six wild populations covering most of the species range from Uganda to South Africa were compared for the cytochrome c oxidase subunit gene (COI). Molecular diversity indices show overall high mtDNA diversity for the populations, but low nucleotide divergence between haplotypes. Our results indicate relatively little geographic population structure among the southern populations, especially given the extensive distributional range and an expectation of limited gene flow between populations. We implemented neutrality tests to assess signatures of recent historical demographic events. Tajima's D test and Fu's F(S) test both suggested recent population growth for the populations. The results were only significant for the southernmost populations when applying Tajima's D, but Fu's F(S) indicated significant deviations from neutrality for all populations except the one closest to the equator. Based on our own findings and those from pollen and vegetation studies, we hypothesize that the species range of B. anynana was reduced to equatorial refugia during the last glacial period, and that the species expanded southwards during the past 10.000 years. These results provide crucial background information for studies of phenotypic and molecular adaptation in wild populations of B. anynana. PMID:21731725

This publication is a teacher's resource and guidebook for the presentation of the three filmstrips in the "Glacial Geology of Wisconsin" series. The first filmstrip is subtitled, "Evidence of the Glaciers," the second "How the Glaciers Reshaped the Landscape," and the third "Fossils of the Ice Age." Included are a list of objectives, an outline…

The colonisation of North West Europe by humans and fauna following the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) has been the subject of considerable discussion in recent decades and within multiple disciplines. Here we present new evidence that pushes back the date of human footfall in Ireland by up to 2500 cal BP to the Upper Palaeolithic. An assemblage of animal bones recovered from a cave in the west of Ireland during antiquarian excavations in 1903 included a butchered brown bear bone (patella) which was recently subjected to two independent radiocarbon dating processes; the resultant dates were in agreement: 12,810-12,590 cal BP and 12,810-12,685 cal BP. This find rewrites the antiquity of human occupation of Ireland and challenges the traditional paradigm that certain biota may have naturally colonised the island prior to human arrival.

It has long been maintained that the majority of terrestrial Antarctic species are relatively recent, post last glacial maximum, arrivals with perhaps a few microbial or protozoan taxa being substantially older. Recent studies have questioned this ‘recolonization hypothesis’, though the range of taxa examined has been limited. Here, we present the first large-scale study for mites, one of two dominant terrestrial arthropod groups in the region. Specifically, we provide a broad-scale molecular phylogeny of a biologically significant group of ameronothroid mites from across the maritime and sub-Antarctic regions. Applying different dating approaches, we show that divergences among the ameronothroid mite genera Podacarus, Alaskozetes and Halozetes significantly predate the Pleistocene and provide evidence of independent dispersals across the Antarctic Polar Front. Our data add to a growing body of evidence demonstrating that many taxa have survived glaciation of the Antarctic continent and the sub-Antarctic islands. Moreover, they also provide evidence of a relatively uncommon trend of dispersals from islands to continental mainlands. Within the ameronothroid mites, two distinct clades with specific habitat preferences (marine intertidal versus terrestrial/supralittoral) exist, supporting a model of within-habitat speciation rather than colonization from marine refugia to terrestrial habitats. The present results provide additional impetus for a search for terrestrial refugia in an area previously thought to have lacked ice-free ground during glacial maxima. PMID:20943685

Climate-change impacts on coral reefs are expected to include temperature-induced spatially extensive bleaching events. Bleaching causes mortality when temperature stress persists but exposure to bleaching conditions is not expected to be spatially uniform at the regional or global scale. Here we show the first maps of global projections of bleaching conditions based on ensembles of IPCC AR5 (ref. ) models forced with the new Representative Concentration Pathways (RCPs). For the three RCPs with larger CO2 emissions (RCP 4.5, 6.0 and 8.5) the onset of annual bleaching conditions is associated with ~ 510ppm CO2 equivalent; the median year of all locations is 2040 for the fossil-fuel aggressive RCP 8.5. Spatial patterns in the onset of annual bleaching conditions are similar for each of the RCPs. For RCP 8.5, 26% of reef cells are projected to experience annual bleaching conditions more than 5 years later than the median. Some of these temporary refugia include the western Indian Ocean, Thailand, the southern Great Barrier Reef and central French Polynesia. A reduction in the growth of greenhouse-gas emissions corresponding to the difference between RCP 8.5 and 6.0 delays annual bleaching in ~ 23% of reef cells more than two decades, which might conceivably increase the potential for these reefs to cope with these changes.

The role of European wild horses in horse domestication is poorly understood. While the fossil record for wild horses in Europe prior to horse domestication is scarce, there have been suggestions that wild populations from various European regions might have contributed to the gene pool of domestic horses. To distinguish between regions where domestic populations are mainly descended from local wild stock and those where horses were largely imported, we investigated patterns of genetic diversity in 24 European horse breeds typed at 12 microsatellite loci. The distribution of high levels of genetic diversity in Europe coincides with the distribution of predominantly open landscapes prior to domestication, as suggested by simulation-based vegetation reconstructions, with breeds from Iberia and the Caspian Sea region having significantly higher genetic diversity than breeds from central Europe and the UK, which were largely forested at the time the first domestic horses appear there. Our results suggest that not only the Eastern steppes, but also the Iberian Peninsula provided refugia for wild horses in the Holocene, and that the genetic contribution of these wild populations to local domestic stock may have been considerable. In contrast, the consistently low levels of diversity in central Europe and the UK suggest that domestic horses in these regions largely derive from horses that were imported from the Eastern refugium, the Iberian refugium, or both. PMID:21479181

The persistence of natural metapopulations may depend on subpopulations that exist at the edges of species ranges, removed from anthropogenic stress. Mesophotic coral ecosystems (30-150 m) are buffered from disturbance by depth and distance, and are potentially massive reservoirs of coral diversity and fecundity; yet we know little about the reproductive capabilities of their constituent species and the potential for these marginal environments to influence patterns of coral reef persistence. We investigated the reproductive performance of the threatened depth-generalist coral Orbicella faveolata over the extent of its vertical range to assess mesophotic contributions to regional larval pools. Over equal habitat area, mesophotic coral populations were found to produce over an order of magnitude more eggs than nearby shallow populations. Positive changes with depth in both population abundance and polyp fecundity contributed to this discrepancy. Relative larval pool contributions of deeper living corals will likely increase as shallow habitats further degrade due to climate change and local habitat degradation. This is a compelling example of the potential for marginal habitat to be critical to metapopulation persistence as reproductive refugia. PMID:26196243

The persistence of natural metapopulations may depend on subpopulations that exist at the edges of species ranges, removed from anthropogenic stress. Mesophotic coral ecosystems (30–150 m) are buffered from disturbance by depth and distance, and are potentially massive reservoirs of coral diversity and fecundity; yet we know little about the reproductive capabilities of their constituent species and the potential for these marginal environments to influence patterns of coral reef persistence. We investigated the reproductive performance of the threatened depth-generalist coral Orbicella faveolata over the extent of its vertical range to assess mesophotic contributions to regional larval pools. Over equal habitat area, mesophotic coral populations were found to produce over an order of magnitude more eggs than nearby shallow populations. Positive changes with depth in both population abundance and polyp fecundity contributed to this discrepancy. Relative larval pool contributions of deeper living corals will likely increase as shallow habitats further degrade due to climate change and local habitat degradation. This is a compelling example of the potential for marginal habitat to be critical to metapopulation persistence as reproductive refugia. PMID:26196243

The persistence of natural metapopulations may depend on subpopulations that exist at the edges of species ranges, removed from anthropogenic stress. Mesophotic coral ecosystems (30-150 m) are buffered from disturbance by depth and distance, and are potentially massive reservoirs of coral diversity and fecundity; yet we know little about the reproductive capabilities of their constituent species and the potential for these marginal environments to influence patterns of coral reef persistence. We investigated the reproductive performance of the threatened depth-generalist coral Orbicella faveolata over the extent of its vertical range to assess mesophotic contributions to regional larval pools. Over equal habitat area, mesophotic coral populations were found to produce over an order of magnitude more eggs than nearby shallow populations. Positive changes with depth in both population abundance and polyp fecundity contributed to this discrepancy. Relative larval pool contributions of deeper living corals will likely increase as shallow habitats further degrade due to climate change and local habitat degradation. This is a compelling example of the potential for marginal habitat to be critical to metapopulation persistence as reproductive refugia.

Glacial landforms in the drumlin drift belt of Ireland and the Alaska Range can be identified and mapped from Seasat synthetic-aperture radar (SAR) images. Drumlins cover 60 percent of the Ireland scene. The width/length ratio of individual drumlins can be measured on the SAR images, allowing regional differences in drumlin shape to be mapped. This cannot be done with corresponding Landsat multispectral scanner (MSS) images because of lower spatial resolution and because of shadowing effects that vary seasonally. The Alaska scene shows the extent and nature of morphological features such as medial and lateral moraines, stagnant ice, and fluted ground moraine in glaciated valleys. Perception of these features on corresponding Landsat MSS images is limited by seasonal diffrences in solar illumination. Because SAR is not affected by such differences or by cloud cover, it is particularly well suited for monitoring glacial movement. The disadvantage of distorted high-relief features on Seasat SAR images can be reduced in future SAR systems by modifying the radar illumination geometry.

The island of Ireland comprises a large central lowland of limestone with a relief of hills surrounded by a discontinuous border of coastal mountains which vary greatly in geological structure. The mountain ridges of the south are composed of old red sandstone separated by limestone river valleys. Granite predominates in the mountains of Galway, Mayo and Donegal in the west and north-west and in Counties Down and Wicklow on the east coast, while a basalt plateau covers much of the north-east of the country. The central plain, which is broken in places by low hills, is extensively covered with glacial deposits of clay and sand. It has considerable areas of bog and numerous lakes. The island has seen at least two general glaciations and everywhere ice-smoothed rock, mountain lakes, glacial valleys and deposits of glacial sand, gravel and clay mark the passage of the ice.

Two visualization methods were combined to produce this image: shading and color coding of topographic height. The shade image was derived by computing topographic slope in the northwest-southeast direction, so that northwest slopes appear bright and southeast slopes appear dark. Color coding is directly related to topographic height, with green at the lower elevations, rising through yellow and tan, to white at the highest elevations.

Elevation data used in this image were acquired by the Shuttle Radar Topography Mission aboard the Space Shuttle Endeavour, launched on Feb. 11, 2000. SRTM used the same radar instrument that comprised the Spaceborne Imaging Radar-C/X-Band Synthetic Aperture Radar (SIR-C/X-SAR) that flew twice on the Space Shuttle Endeavour in 1994. SRTM was designed to collect 3-D measurements of the Earth's surface. To collect the 3-D data, engineers added a 60-meter (approximately 200-foot) mast, installed additional C-band and X-band antennas, and improved tracking and navigation devices. The mission is a cooperative project between NASA, the National Geospatial

Phosphorus in the atmosphere is poorly studied and thus not much is known about atmospheric phosphorus and phosphate transport and deposition changes over time, though it is well known that phosphorus can be a source of long-range nutrient transport, e.g. Saharan dust transported to the tropical forests of Brazil. In glacial times it has been speculated that transport of phosphorus from exposed shelves would increase the ocean productivity by wash out. However whether the exposed shelf would also increase the atmospheric load to more remote places has not been investigated. Polar ice cores offer a unique opportunity to study the atmospheric transport of aerosols on various timescales, from glacial-interglacial periods to recent anthropogenic influences. We have for the first time determined the atmospheric transport of phosphorus to the Arctic by means of ice core analysis. Both total and dissolved reactive phosphorus were measured to investigate current and past atmospheric transport of phosphorus to the Arctic. Results show that glacial cold stadials had increased atmospheric total phosphorus mass loads of 70 times higher than in the past century, while DRP was only increased by a factor of 14. In the recent period we find evidence of a phosphorus increase over the past 50 yrs in ice cores close to human occupation likely correlated to forest fires. References: Kjær, Helle Astrid, et al. "Continuous flow analysis method for determination of dissolved reactive phosphorus in ice cores." Environmental science & technology 47.21 (2013): 12325-12332. Kjær, Helle Astrid, et al. "Greenland ice cores constrain glacial atmospheric fluxes of phosphorus." Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres120.20 (2015).

Broad-scale climate control of vegetation is widely assumed. Vegetation-climate lags are generally thought to have lasted no more than a few centuries. Here our palaeoecological study challenges this concept over glacial-interglacial timescales. Through multivariate analyses of pollen assemblages from Lake El'gygytgyn, Russian Far East and other data we show that interglacial vegetation during the Plio-Pleistocene transition mainly reflects conditions of the preceding glacial instead of contemporary interglacial climate. Vegetation-climate disequilibrium may persist for several millennia, related to the combined effects of permafrost persistence, distant glacialrefugia and fire. In contrast, no effects from the preceding interglacial on glacial vegetation are detected. We propose that disequilibrium was stronger during the Plio-Pleistocene transition than during the Mid-Pliocene Warm Period when, in addition to climate, herbivory was important. By analogy to the past, we suggest today's widespread larch ecosystem on permafrost is not in climate equilibrium. Vegetation-based reconstructions of interglacial climates used to assess atmospheric CO2-temperature relationships may thus yield misleading simulations of past global climate sensitivity. PMID:27338025

Broad-scale climate control of vegetation is widely assumed. Vegetation-climate lags are generally thought to have lasted no more than a few centuries. Here our palaeoecological study challenges this concept over glacial-interglacial timescales. Through multivariate analyses of pollen assemblages from Lake El'gygytgyn, Russian Far East and other data we show that interglacial vegetation during the Plio-Pleistocene transition mainly reflects conditions of the preceding glacial instead of contemporary interglacial climate. Vegetation-climate disequilibrium may persist for several millennia, related to the combined effects of permafrost persistence, distant glacialrefugia and fire. In contrast, no effects from the preceding interglacial on glacial vegetation are detected. We propose that disequilibrium was stronger during the Plio-Pleistocene transition than during the Mid-Pliocene Warm Period when, in addition to climate, herbivory was important. By analogy to the past, we suggest today's widespread larch ecosystem on permafrost is not in climate equilibrium. Vegetation-based reconstructions of interglacial climates used to assess atmospheric CO2-temperature relationships may thus yield misleading simulations of past global climate sensitivity.

This paper critically considers teacher education in Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. It was stimulated by an exchange programme between student teachers from Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland for a period of school-based work in each other's jurisdictions. It examines recent curricular developments, partnership with…

Ocean acidification (OA) is expected to reduce the calcification rates of marine organisms, yet we have little understanding of how OA will manifest within dynamic, real-world systems. Natural CO2, alkalinity, and salinity gradients can significantly alter local carbonate chemistry, and thereby create a range of susceptibility for different ecosystems to OA. As such, there is a need to characterize this natural variability of seawater carbonate chemistry, especially within coastal ecosystems. Since 2009, carbonate chemistry data have been collected on the Florida Reef Tract (FRT). During periods of heightened productivity, there is a net uptake of total CO2 (TCO2) which increases aragonite saturation state (Ωarag) values on inshore patch reefs of the upper FRT. These waters can exhibit greater Ωarag than what has been modeled for the tropical surface ocean during preindustrial times, with mean (± std. error) Ωarag-values in spring = 4.69 (± 0.101). Conversely, Ωarag-values on offshore reefs generally represent oceanic carbonate chemistries consistent with present day tropical surface ocean conditions. This gradient is opposite from what has been reported for other reef environments. We hypothesize this pattern is caused by the photosynthetic uptake of TCO2 mainly by seagrasses and, to a lesser extent, macroalgae in the inshore waters of the FRT. These inshore reef habitats are therefore potential acidification refugia that are defined not only in a spatial sense, but also in time; coinciding with seasonal productivity dynamics. Coral reefs located within or immediately downstream of seagrass beds may find refuge from OA.

Projected changes in global climate and associated shifts in vegetation have increased interest in understanding species persistence at local scales. We examine the climatic and physical factors that could mediate changes in the distribution of vegetation in regions of complex topography. Using massive networks of low-cost temperature and humidity sensors, we developed topographically-resolved daily historical gridded temperature data for the US Northern Rockies. We used the WindNinja model to create daily historical wind speed maps across the same domain. Using a spatially distributed ecohydrology model (ECH2O) we examine separately the sensitivity of modeled evapotranspiration and soil moisture to wind, radiation, soil properties, minimum temperature and humidity. A suite of physical factors including lower wind speeds, cold air drainage, solar shading and increased soil depth reduce evapotranspiration and increase late season moisture availability in valley bottoms. Evapotranspiration shows strong sensitivity to spatial variability in surface wind speed, suggesting that sheltering effects from winds may be an important factor contributing to mountain refugia. Fundamental to our understanding of patterns of vegetation change is the role of stand-replacing wildfires, which modify the physical environment and subsequent patterns of species persistence and recruitment. Using satellite-derived maps of burn severity for recent fires in the US Northern Rockies we examined relationships between wind speed, cold air drainage potential and soil depth and the occurrence of unburned and low severity fire. Severe fire is less likely to occur in areas with high cold air drainage potential and low wind speeds, suggesting that sheltered valley bottoms have mediated the severity of recent wildfires. Our finding highlight the complex physical mechanisms by which mountain weather and climate mediate fire-induced vegetation changes in the US Northern Rocky Mountains.

The Pleistocene was an epoch of extreme climatic and environmental changes. How individual species responded to the repeated cycles of warm and cold stages is a major topic of debate. For the European fauna and flora, an expansion-contraction model has been suggested, whereby temperate species were restricted to southern refugia during glacial times and expanded northwards during interglacials, including the present interglacial (Holocene). Here, we test this model on the red deer (Cervus elaphus) a large and highly mobile herbivore, using both modern and ancient mitochondrial DNA from the entire European range of the species over the last c. 40,000 years. Our results indicate that this species was sensitive to the effects of climate change. Prior to the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) haplogroups restricted today to South-East Europe and Western Asia reached as far west as the UK. During the LGM, red deer was mainly restricted to southern refugia, in Iberia, the Balkans and possibly in Italy and South-Western Asia. At the end of the LGM, red deer expanded from the Iberian refugium, to Central and Northern Europe, including the UK, Belgium, Scandinavia, Germany, Poland and Belarus. Ancient DNA data cannot rule out refugial survival of red deer in North-West Europe through the LGM. Had such deer survived, though, they were replaced by deer migrating from Iberia at the end of the glacial. The Balkans served as a separate LGM refugium and were probably connected to Western Asia with genetic exchange between the two areas. PMID:23927498

1. A classic biogeographic pattern is the alignment of diploid, tetraploid and hexaploid races of creosote bush (Larrea tridentata) across the Chihuahuan, Sonoran and Mohave Deserts of western North America. We used statistically robust differences in guard cell size of modern plants and fossil leaves from packrat middens to map current and past distributions of these ploidy races since the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM). 2 Glacial/early Holocene (26a??10 14C kyr bp or thousands of radiocarbon years before present) populations included diploids along the lower Rio Grande of west Texas, 650 km removed from sympatric diploids and tetraploids in the lower Colorado River Basin of south-eastern California/south-western Arizona. Diploids migrated slowly from lower Rio Grande refugia with expansion into the northern Chihuahuan Desert sites forestalled until after ~4.0 14C kyr bp. Tetraploids expanded from the lower Colorado River Basin into the northern limits of the Sonoran Desert in central Arizona by 6.4 14C kyr bp. Hexaploids appeared by 8.5 14C kyr bp in the lower Colorado River Basin, reaching their northernmost limits (~37A?N) in the Mohave Desert between 5.6 and 3.9 14C kyr bp. 3 Modern diploid isolates may have resulted from both vicariant and dispersal events. In central Baja California and the lower Colorado River Basin, modern diploids probably originated from relict populations near glacialrefugia. Founder events in the middle and late Holocene established diploid outposts on isolated limestone outcrops in areas of central and southern Arizona dominated by tetraploid populations. 4 Geographic alignment of the three ploidy races along the modern gradient of increasingly drier and hotter summers is clearly a postglacial phenomenon, but evolution of both higher ploidy races must have happened before the Holocene. The exact timing and mechanism of polyploidy evolution in creosote bush remains a matter of conjecture.

1 A classic biogeographic pattern is the alignment of diploid, tetraploid and hexaploid races of creosote bush (Larrea tridentata) across the Chihuahuan, Sonoran and Mohave Deserts of western North America. We used statistically robust differences in guard cell size of modern plants and fossil leaves from packrat middens to map current and past distributions of these ploidy races since the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM). 2 Glacial/early Holocene (26-10 14C kyr BP or thousands of radiocarbon years before present) populations included diploids along the lower Rio Grande of west Texas, 650 km removed from sympatric diploids and tetraploids in the lower Colorado River Basin of south-eastern California/south-western Arizona. Diploids migrated slowly from lower Rio Grande refugia with expansion into the northern Chihuahuan Desert sites forestalled until after ???4.0 14C kyr BP. Tetraploids expanded from the lower Colorado River Basin into the northern limits of the Sonoran Desert in central Arizona by 6.4 14C kyr BP. Hexaploids appeared by 8.5 14C kyr BP in the lower Colorado River Basin, reaching their northernmost limits (???37??N) in the Mohave Desert between 5.6 and 3.9 14C kyr BP. 3 Modern diploid isolates may have resulted from both vicariant and dispersal events. In central Baja California and the lower Colorado River Basin, modern diploids probably originated from relict populations near glacialrefugia. Founder events in the middle and late Holocene established diploid outposts on isolated limestone outcrops in areas of central and southern Arizona dominated by tetraploid populations. 4 Geographic alignment of the three ploidy races along the modern gradient of increasingly drier and hotter summers is clearly a postglacial phenomenon, but evolution of both higher ploidy races must have happened before the Holocene. The exact timing and mechanism of polyploidy evolution in creosote bush remains a matter of conjecture. ?? 2001 Blackwell Science Ltd.

Florida manatees (Trichechus manatus latirostris) overwintering in the Ten Thousand Islands and western Everglades have no access to power plants or major artesian springs that provide warm-water refugia in other parts of Florida. Instead, hundreds of manatees aggregate at artificial canals, basins, and natural deep water sites that act as passive thermal refugia (PTR). Monitoring at two canal sites revealed temperature inverted haloclines, which provided warm salty bottom layers that generally remained above temperatures considered adverse for manatees. At the largest PTR, the warmer bottom layer disappeared unless significant salt stratification was maintained by upstream freshwater inflow over a persistent tidal wedge. A detailed three-dimensional hydrology model showed that salinity stratification inhibited vertical convection induced by atmospheric cooling. Management or creation of temperature inverted haloclines may be a feasible and desirable option for resource managers to provide passive thermal refugia for manatees and other temperature sensitive aquatic species.

Because of its copious and reliable rainfall, Ireland has an abundance of springs. Many of the larger ones issue from the Carboniferous limestone that occurs in over 40% of the country. The spring water is mainly a calcium bicarbonate type with a temperature of about 10°C. In the 18th century, warm and cold springs were developed as spas in various parts of Ireland. The popularity of these springs was short and most were in major decline by 1850. Today only one cold spa at Lisdoonvarna, Co. Clare is still operating. Springs in Ireland were places of religious significance for the pre-Christian Druidic religion. In the Christian period they became holy wells, under the patronage of various saints. Cures for many different ailments were attributed to water from these wells.

Abstract Cytomegalovirus (CMV) infections occur worldwide and primary infection usually occurs in early childhood and is often asymptomatic whereas primary infection in adults may result in symptomatic illness. CMV establishes a chronic latent infection with intermittent periods of reactivation. Primary infection or reactivation associate with increased mortality and morbidity in those who are immunocompromised. Transplacental transmission may result in significant birth defects or long-term sensorineural hearing loss. We performed a study to determine the CMV seroprevalence and the association between HLA Class I alleles and frequency of CMV infection in Ireland. The presence of CMV IgG, a marker of previous CMV infection, was determined for a cohort of 1849 HLA typed solid organ transplant donors between 1990 and 2013. The presence of CMV IgG was correlated with HLA type. The CMV seroprevalence in solid organ transplant donors was 33.4% (range 22–48% per annum) over the time period 1990 to 2013. Multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that both age and HLA alleles were associated with CMV seropositivity. A significant and positive relationship between age and CMV seropositivity was observed (OR = 1.013, P

The response of the tropical ocean to global climate change and the extent of sea ice in the glacial nordic seas belong to the great controversies in paleoclimatology. Our new reconstruction of peak glacial sea surface temperatures (SSTs) in the Atlantic is based on census counts of planktic foraminifera, using the Maximum Similarity Technique Version 28 (SIMMAX-28) modern analog technique with 947 modern analog samples and 119 well-dated sediment cores. Our study compares two slightly different scenarios of the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM), the Environmental Processes of the Ice Age: Land, Oceans, Glaciers (EPILOG), and Glacial Atlantic Ocean Mapping (GLAMAP 2000) time slices. The comparison shows that the maximum LGM cooling in the Southern Hemisphere slightly preceeded that in the north. In both time slices sea ice was restricted to the north western margin of the nordic seas during glacial northern summer, while the central and eastern parts were ice-free. During northern glacial winter, sea ice advanced to the south of Iceland and Faeroe. In the central northern North Atlantic an anticyclonic gyre formed between 45° and 60°N, with a cool water mass centered west of Ireland, where glacial cooling reached a maximum of >12°C. In the subtropical ocean gyres the new reconstruction supports the glacial-to-interglacial stability of SST as shown by () [1981]. The zonal belt of minimum SST seasonality between 2° and 6°N suggests that the LGM caloric equator occupied the same latitude as today. In contrast to the CLIMAP reconstruction, the glacial cooling of the tropical east Atlantic upwelling belt reached up to 6°-8°C during Northern Hemisphere summer. Differences between these SIMMAX-based and published U37k- and Mg/Ca-based equatorial SST records are ascribed to strong SST seasonalities and SST signals that were produced by different planktic species groups during different seasons.

The loess-paleosol sequences in the Carpathian Basin, southeast Europe, are up to tens of meters thick and provide valuable archives for paleoenvironmental and -climate change over several glacial-interglacial cycles. The Crvenka section spans the full last glacial cycle and is used in this multi-proxy study to reconstruct past climate conditions. Crvenka features the characteristic pattern in terms of grain size and weathering intensity, i.e. finer grain sizes and more intensive weathering in the paleosols compared to the glacial loess units. The analysis of plant-derived long-chain n-alkanes as molecular biomarkers for past vegetation indicates the presence of trees during glacials, which is consistent with other e.g. macrofossil findings and the notion that parts of southeast Europe served as tree-refugia. However, virtually tree-less grass steppes are reconstructed for the Eemian, the last interglacial. More humid conditions during glacials and more arid conditions during interglacials would be in good agreement with lake-level reconstructions from the Dead Sea, but they seem to be at odds with traditional interpretations of pollen and stable isotope records for the Mediterranean region. In order to further contribute to this issue, we performed compound-specific D/H analyses on the most abundant alkanes C29 and C31, which should mainly record past changes in the isotopic composition of precipitation. The absence of a clear signal towards more depleted values during glacials shows that the temperature-effect is not dominant and probably offset by a strong source-effect, namely the enrichment of the Mediterranean sea water during glacials. This very same source effect may generally need to be taken into account when interpreting terrestrial isotope records in the Mediterranean, which implies that more positive values during glacials may not necessarily indicate an amount-effect and more arid conditions.

Anthropogenic climate change is leading to dramatic fluctuations to Earth's biodiversity that has not been observed since past interglacial periods. There is rising concern that Earth's warming climate will have significant impacts to current species ranges and the ability of a species to persist in a rapidly changing environment. The paleorecord provides information on past species distributions in relation to climate change, which can illuminate the patterns of potential future distributions of species. Particularly in areas where there are multiple potential limiting factors on a species' range, e.g. temperature, radiation, and evaporative demand, the spatial patterns of species migrations may be particularly complex. In this study, we assessed the change in the distributions of white spruce (Picea glauca) from the Last Glacial Maxima (LGM) to present-day for the entire state of Alaska. To accomplish this, we created species distribution models (SDMs) calibrated from modern vegetation data and high-resolution, downscaled climate surfaces at 60m. These SDMs were applied to downscaled modern and paleoclimate surfaces to produce estimated ranges of white spruce during the LGM and today. From this, we assessed the "species velocity", the rate at which white spruce would need to migrate to keep pace with climate change, with the goal of determining whether the expansion from the LGM to today originated from microclimate refugia. Higher species velocities indicate locations where climate changed drastically and white spruce would have needed to migrate rapidly to persist and avoid local extinction. Conversely, lower species velocities indicated locations where the local climate was changing less rapidly or was within the center of the range of white spruce, and indicated locations where white spruce distributions were unlikely to have changed significantly. Our results indicate the importance of topographic complexity in buffering the effects of climate change

Background Pinus massoniana, an ecologically and economically important conifer, is widespread across central and southern mainland China and Taiwan. In this study, we tested the central–marginal paradigm that predicts that the marginal populations tend to be less polymorphic than the central ones in their genetic composition, and examined a founders' effect in the island population. Methodology/Principal Findings We examined the phylogeography and population structuring of the P. massoniana based on nucleotide sequences of cpDNA atpB-rbcL intergenic spacer, intron regions of the AdhC2 locus, and microsatellite fingerprints. SAMOVA analysis of nucleotide sequences indicated that most genetic variants resided among geographical regions. High levels of genetic diversity in the marginal populations in the south region, a pattern seemingly contradicting the central–marginal paradigm, and the fixation of private haplotypes in most populations indicate that multiple refugia may have existed over the glacial maxima. STRUCTURE analyses on microsatellites revealed that genetic structure of mainland populations was mediated with recent genetic exchanges mostly via pollen flow, and that the genetic composition in east region was intermixed between south and west regions, a pattern likely shaped by gene introgression and maintenance of ancestral polymorphisms. As expected, the small island population in Taiwan was genetically differentiated from mainland populations. Conclusions/Significance The marginal populations in south region possessed divergent gene pools, suggesting that the past glaciations might have low impacts on these populations at low latitudes. Estimates of ancestral population sizes interestingly reflect a recent expansion in mainland from a rather smaller population, a pattern that seemingly agrees with the pollen record. PMID:22952747

In the Cork Harbour area of SW Ireland, high yield karst and intergranular gravel aquifers are extremely vulnerable to pollution from a variety of sources, mainly due to the limited protection afforded by the thin cover of low permeability glacial and alluvial overburden. The main potential sources of pollution are due to rapid urbanisation of the Cork city area and its attendant infrastructure, and increased industrialisation in the area, with numerous new industries, particularly pharmaceutical and chemical industries, located around Cork Harbour. Other potential sources of pollution are a number of landfills in the area and an oil refinery near the mouth of Cork Harbour. Traditional agricultural sources of pollution also exist, due to increased use of chemical fertilisers. Finally, the susceptibility to saline intrusion of the karst and gravel aquifers around Cork Harbour is high due to the long coastline of the harbour and the low-lying nature of the karst synclines with their superimposed buried valleys.

Out of a commitment to reducing carbon dioxide emissions, Ireland's Department of Education and Science has designed and constructed two low energy schools, in Tullamore, County Offaly, and Raheen, County Laois. With energy use in buildings responsible for approximately 55% of the CO[subscript 2] released into the atmosphere and a major…

The Atlantic Forest (AF) of South America harbors one of the world's highest bird species richness, but to date there is a deficient understanding of the spatial patterns of genetic diversity and the evolutionary history of this biome. Here we estimated the phylogenetic and populational history of the widespread Mouse-colored Tapaculo (Scytalopus speluncae) complex across the Brazilian AF, using data from two mitochondrial genes and 12 microsatellite loci. Both markers uncovered several cryptic, mostly allopatric and well-supported lineages that may represent distinct species-level taxa. We investigated whether diversification in S. speluncae is compatible with the Carnaval-Moritz model of Pleistocene refugia. We found that northern lineages have high levels of genetic diversity, agreeing with predictions of more stable forest refugia in these areas. In contrast, southern lineages have lower levels of mtDNA diversity with a signature of population expansion that occurred earlier (∼0.2Mya) than the last glacial maximum. This result suggests that the AF may be stable enough to maintain endemic taxa through glacial cycles. Moreover, we propose that the "mid-Pleistocene climate transition" between 1.2 and 0.7million years ago, from a warmer to a colder climate, may have played an important but mostly overlooked role in the evolution of AF montane taxa. PMID:27233438

We assessed the climate vulnerability of 29 terrestrial macrogroup vegetation types in the National Vegetation Classification Scheme covering 99% of California. Using a 2015 landcover map, we defined current and future climate exposure of each type by assessing conditions at all known locations. This approach identifies both areas of expected high stress and of climate refugia. Species distribution models of the vegetation types proved to over-predict the extent of occupied lands, compared to their mapped extents. Trait based components of the vulnerability assessment were far less influential on level of vulnerability than climate projection. Various cutoffs can be selected to describe refugia. Here we classed refugia as the 20% of climate conditions most frequently occupied by a type. Under CNRM CM5 RCP 4.5, of 70,143 km2 that are the most climate-insulated locations, 46,420 km2 move to higher levels of climate exposure. At the other extreme of climate projections tested, MIROC ESM RCP 8.5, 59,137 km2 are lost. Four macrogroups lose their refugia under CNRM 4.5: Pacific Northwest Conifer Forests, Mountain Riparian Scrub and Wet Meadow, Salt Marsh, and Great Basin Upland Scrub. Under MIROC 8.5 and additional 8 macrogroups lose the most commonly experienced climate: Subalpine Aspen Forests & Pine Woodlands, Non-Native Forest and Woodlands, North Coast Deciduous Scrub and Terrace Prairie, Coastal Dune and Bluff Scrub, Freshwater Marsh, Wet Mountain Meadow, Big Sagebrush Scrub, and Alpine Vegetation. These results raise interesting questions regarding the definition of refugia. We review the results and ask how appropriate they are for different ecosystem types.

The influence of historical climatic vs. geological changes on species diversification patterns was investigated in a widely distributed North American desert spider, Agelenopsis aperta (Araneae: Agelenidae), with particular reference to Pleistocene glacial cycles and earlier patterns of mountain building. Levels of sequence divergence obtained from the mitochondrial gene, cytochrome oxidase I, dated to the Pleistocene, eliminating Rocky Mountain orogeny as a cause of diversification, as orogeny ended 4 million years ago. The results of phylogenetic and network analyses showed the presence of three geographically defined clades, which were consistent with the presence of at least three glacialrefugia: (i) east of the Rocky Mountains; (ii) between the Rocky Mountains and Sierra Nevadas; and (iii) west of the Sierra Nevadas. In addition, populations within the Rocky Mountains exhibited significantly lower genetic diversity than populations east of the Rocky Mountains and the haplotypes found within the Rockies were a subset of eastern haplotypes. These patterns suggest that a post-Pleistocene range expansion occurred out of an eastern glacial refugium into the Rocky Mountains. Examination of phylogeographical studies of other North American desert taxa indicated that mountain building explained diversification patterns more effectively for some taxa but Pleistocene climate change was more important for others, including A. aperta. PMID:15488003

Broad-scale climate control of vegetation is widely assumed. Vegetation-climate lags are generally thought to have lasted no more than a few centuries. Here our palaeoecological study challenges this concept over glacial–interglacial timescales. Through multivariate analyses of pollen assemblages from Lake El'gygytgyn, Russian Far East and other data we show that interglacial vegetation during the Plio-Pleistocene transition mainly reflects conditions of the preceding glacial instead of contemporary interglacial climate. Vegetation–climate disequilibrium may persist for several millennia, related to the combined effects of permafrost persistence, distant glacialrefugia and fire. In contrast, no effects from the preceding interglacial on glacial vegetation are detected. We propose that disequilibrium was stronger during the Plio-Pleistocene transition than during the Mid-Pliocene Warm Period when, in addition to climate, herbivory was important. By analogy to the past, we suggest today's widespread larch ecosystem on permafrost is not in climate equilibrium. Vegetation-based reconstructions of interglacial climates used to assess atmospheric CO2–temperature relationships may thus yield misleading simulations of past global climate sensitivity. PMID:27338025

Evidence for the Kennebunk glacial advance (readvance) in southwestern Maine is discussed in light of recent geologic mapping. Orientations of glacially produced lineations record the response of ice to major topographic controls and do not indicate glacial readvance. Minor end moraines and large stratified end moraines associated with deformed marine sediments of the Presumpscot Formation occur throughout the southwestern coastal zone. These features outline the general pattern of ice retreat from this part of the coastal zone and suggest that withdrawal of the last ice from southwestern Maine occurred with minor stillstands and local frontal fluctuations but without significant readvance. The Kennebunk glacial advance (readvance) appears to have been one of many local fluctuations of the ice front during general recession, occurring at about 13,200 yr B.P.

Éire, or in its English language form, Ireland, is a constitutional republic island state bordered by the Atlantic Ocean on its rugged north and rocky west coasts and the rough Irish Sea on the east. After a period of calm, financial promise, and prosperity, the so called Celtic tiger's roar is less pronounced at the moment. A recent change in the Irish government heralds a period of austerity after a decade or more of almost double-digit growth. PMID:21647082

Background/Aims Recently, new palaeoecological records supported by molecular analyses and palaeodistributional modelling have provided more comprehensive insights into plant behaviour during the last Quaternary cycle. We reviewed the migration history of species of subgenus Alnus during the last 50,000 years in Europe with a focus on (1) a general revision of Alnus history since the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM), (2) evidence of northern refugia of Alnus populations during the LGM and (3) the specific history of Alnus in particular European regions. Methodology We determined changes in Alnus distribution on the basis of 811 and 68 radiocarbon-dated pollen and macrofossil sites, respectively. We compiled data from the European Pollen Database, the Czech Quaternary Palynological Database, the Eurasian Macrofossil Database and additional literature. Pollen percentage thresholds indicating expansions or retreats were used to describe patterns of past Alnus occurrence. Principal Findings An expansion of Alnus during the Late Glacial and early Holocene periods supports the presence of alders during the LGM in southern peninsulas and northerly areas in western Europe, the foothills of the Alps, the Carpathians and northeastern Europe. After glaciers withdrew, the ice-free area of Europe was likely colonized from several regional refugia; the deglaciated area of Scandinavia was likely colonized from a single refugium in northeastern Europe. In the more northerly parts of Europe, we found a scale-dependent pattern of Alnus expansion characterised by a synchronous increase of Alnus within individual regions, though with regional differences in the times of the expansion. In southern peninsulas, the Alps and the Carpathians, by contrast, it seems that Alnus expanded differently at individual sites rather than synchronously in whole regions. Conclusions Our synthesis supports the idea that northern LGM populations were important sources of postglacial Alnus expansion. The

The problems associated with illegal abortion dominate public discussion in Ireland. While abortion is illegal in Ireland, the Supreme Court directed in 1992 that Irish women can go to Britain for abortions when their lives are thought to be at risk. Abortion was a constant feature during the Irish Presidential election campaign in October, while a dispute about the future of a 13-year-old girl's pregnancy dominated the headlines in November. The presidential election on October 30 resulted in a victory for one of the two openly anti-choice candidates, Mary McAleese, a lawyer from Northern Ireland. With a voter turnout of 47.6%, McAleese polled 45.2% of the votes cast. Although the president may refuse to sign bills which have been passed by parliament, McAleese has said that she will sign whatever bill is placed before her, even if it liberalizes abortion law in the republic. As for the case of the 13-year-old pregnant girl, she was taken into the care of Irish health authority officials once the case was reported to the police. However, the health board, as a state agency, is prevented by Irish law from helping anyone travel abroad for abortion. The girl was eventually given leave in a judgement by a High Court Judicial Review on November 28 to travel to England for an abortion. PMID:12321445

A new reconstruction of the vegetation cover for New Zealand at the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) is presented, based primarily on a database of 66 pollen site records and a more limited range of plant macrofossil and coleopteran records. Extensive forest is evident only from Auckland northwards. Conifer-broadleaf forest similar to that in the region today, but with Agathis australis scarce, persisted in the far north, whilst Nothofagus trees and a range of shrub taxa characterised the more open forests elsewhere in Northland. Survival of Nothofagus-dominated forest in coastal and exposed continental shelf locations to the southwest of Auckland and northwestern South Island is also indicated. Beyond these regions, vegetation cover comprised shrubland- and grassland-dominant communities, with the latter more prominent in eastern areas, to the south and presumably at higher altitudes. Nevertheless the survival of forest trees is indicated unambiguously in most regions apart from the eastern South Island. Thus the concept of 'micro glacial forest refugia' in New Zealand remains supported by this latest glacial vegetation reconstruction and we draw possible parallels with the developing but contentious concept of 'northern cryptic refugia' in Europe. Recent assertions that pollen and beetle reconstructions of the New Zealand LGM vegetation patterns diverge significantly are not supported by this analysis. Rather, the two proxies are readily reconciled if the term 'woody' as indicated by coleoptera is not restricted to tall forest trees but extended to the widespread woody shrub and small tree elements of the New Zealand flora. Regional distinctions in the LGM vegetation reconstruction concur broadly with the contemporary vegetation pattern, suggesting that, along with temperature depression and likely drier growing conditions, a zonal circulation regime with prominent southern westerly winds was important at 21 ka, as it is today. Pollen-climate modelling of the extent of

Here we investigate glaciation and climate in the Mourne Mountains, Northern Ireland, during the Younger Dryas (YD; c. 12.9-11.7 ka BP), using a combination of field-mapping, remote sensing and glacier mass balance modelling. Results indicate that small, independent (likely snow-field fed) glaciers occupied the mountains during this period, with Equilibrium Line Altitudes (ELAs) ranging from ~ 450 to 708 m above sea level. Based on these estimates, mass balance modelling suggest a ~ 8°C reduction in mean annual temperature at the YD (assuming precipitation values comparable to present). Despite this, though the chronology and style of glacial retreat from the Last Glacial Maximum would suggest that the reconstructed glaciers relate to the YD, new radiocarbon dating of basal contact organics (conducted as part of this investigation) has been unable to conclusively verify a YD age.

The increasing aridity during the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) has been proposed as a major factor affecting Neotropical species. The character and intensity of this change, however, remains the subject of ongoing debate. This review proposes an approach to test contrasting paleoecological hypotheses by way of their expected demographic and genetic effects on Neotropical cloud forest species. We reviewed 48 paleoecological records encompassing the LGM in the Neotropics. The records show contrasting evidence regarding the changes in precipitation during this period. Some regions remained fairly moist and others had a significantly reduced precipitation. Many paleoecological records within the same region show apparently conflicting evidence on precipitation and forest stability. From these data, we propose and outline two demographic/genetic scenarios for cloud forests species based on opposite precipitation regimes: the dry refugia and the moist forests hypotheses. We searched for studies dealing with the population genetic structure of cloud forest and other montane taxa and compared their results with the proposed models. To date, the few available molecular studies show insufficient genetic evidence on the predominance of glacial aridity in the Neotropics. In order to disentangle the climatic history of the Neotropics, the present study calls for a general multi-disciplinary approach to conduct future phylogeographic studies. Given the contradictory paleoecological information, population genetic data on Neotropical cloud forest species should be used to explicitly test the genetic consequences of competing paleoecological models. PMID:23531632

The increasing aridity during the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) has been proposed as a major factor affecting Neotropical species. The character and intensity of this change, however, remains the subject of ongoing debate. This review proposes an approach to test contrasting paleoecological hypotheses by way of their expected demographic and genetic effects on Neotropical cloud forest species. We reviewed 48 paleoecological records encompassing the LGM in the Neotropics. The records show contrasting evidence regarding the changes in precipitation during this period. Some regions remained fairly moist and others had a significantly reduced precipitation. Many paleoecological records within the same region show apparently conflicting evidence on precipitation and forest stability. From these data, we propose and outline two demographic/genetic scenarios for cloud forests species based on opposite precipitation regimes: the dry refugia and the moist forests hypotheses. We searched for studies dealing with the population genetic structure of cloud forest and other montane taxa and compared their results with the proposed models. To date, the few available molecular studies show insufficient genetic evidence on the predominance of glacial aridity in the Neotropics. In order to disentangle the climatic history of the Neotropics, the present study calls for a general multi-disciplinary approach to conduct future phylogeographic studies. Given the contradictory paleoecological information, population genetic data on Neotropical cloud forest species should be used to explicitly test the genetic consequences of competing paleoecological models. PMID:23531632

Climate refugia are regions that animals can retreat to, persist in and potentially then expand from under changing environmental conditions. Most forecasts of climate change refugia for species are based on correlative species distribution models (SDMs) using long-term climate averages, projected to future climate scenarios. Limitations of such methods include the need to extrapolate into novel environments and uncertainty regarding the extent to which proximate variables included in the model capture processes driving distribution limits (and thus can be assumed to provide reliable predictions under new conditions). These limitations are well documented; however, their impact on the quality of climate refugia predictions is difficult to quantify. Here, we develop a detailed bioenergetics model for the koala. It indicates that range limits are driven by heat-induced water stress, with the timing of rainfall and heat waves limiting the koala in the warmer parts of its range. We compare refugia predictions from the bioenergetics model with predictions from a suite of competing correlative SDMs under a range of future climate scenarios. SDMs were fitted using combinations of long-term climate and weather extremes variables, to test how well each set of predictions captures the knowledge embedded in the bioenergetics model. Correlative models produced broadly similar predictions to the bioenergetics model across much of the species' current range - with SDMs that included weather extremes showing highest congruence. However, predictions in some regions diverged significantly when projecting to future climates due to the breakdown in correlation between climate variables. We provide unique insight into the mechanisms driving koala distribution and illustrate the importance of subtle relationships between the timing of weather events, particularly rain relative to hot-spells, in driving species-climate relationships and distributions. By unpacking the mechanisms

The Great Basin, USA, contains hundreds of small to large mountain ranges. Many reach alpine elevations, which are separated from each other by low-elevation basins currently inhospitable to conifer growth. Many of these ranges support montane and subalpine conifer species that have affinities to the Sierra Nevada or Rocky Mountains, and from which these conifers migrated during cool periods of the Pleistocene. Under Holocene climates, the Great Basin geography became a terrestrial island-archipelago, wherein conifer populations are isolated among ranges, and inter-range migration is highly limited. During warm intervals of the Holocene, conifers would be expected to have migrated upslope following favorable conditions, and extirpation would be assumed to result from continued warming. Independent patterns, repeating across multiple species' distributions, however, suggest that refugia were present in these ranges during warm periods, and that low elevation environments below the current main distributions acted as climatic refugia. We hypothesize that cool, narrow, and north-aspect ravines, which during cool climates support persistent or seasonal creeks and deciduous riparian communities, become available as conifer habitat when warming climates desiccate creeks and deplete riparian species. We further speculate that cold-air drainage, reduced solar insolation, lower wind exposure, and higher water tables in these topographic positions support populations of montane and subalpine conifers even during warm climate intervals when high elevations are unfavorable for conifer persistence. On return to cool climates, low elevation refugia become sources for recolonizing higher slopes, and/or continue to persist as relictual populations. We present several lines of evidence supporting this hypothesis, and speculate that low-elevation, extramarginal riparian environments might act as climate refugia for Great Basin conifers in the future as well.

Refugia featured prominently in shaping evolutionary trajectories during repeated cycles of glaciation in the Quaternary, particularly in the Northern Hemisphere. The Southern Hemisphere instead experienced cycles of severe aridification but little is known about the temporal presence and role of refugia for arid-adapted biota. Isolated mountain ranges located in the Australian arid zone likely provided refugia for many species following Mio/Pliocene (<15 Ma) aridification; however, the evolutionary consequences of the recent development of widespread sand deserts is largely unknown. To test alternative hypotheses of ancient vs. recent isolation, we generated a 10 gene data set to assess divergence history among saxicolous geckos in the genus Heteronotia that have distributions confined to major rocky ranges in the arid zone. Phylogenetic analyses show that each rocky range harbours a divergent lineage, and substantial intraspecific diversity is likely due to topographic complexity in these areas. Old divergences (~4 Ma) among lineages pre-date the formation of the geologically young sand deserts (<1 Ma), suggesting that Pliocene climate shifts fractured the distributions of biota long before the spread of the deserts. PMID:21371147

The interpretation of the extent of late Wisconsin glaciation in southeastern Alaska has varied between geologists and biologists. Maps and reports of the region prepared by geologists commonly indicated that late Wisconsin ice extended as a large uniform front west to the edge of the continental shelf. However, the distribution of plants and animals in the region has led many biologists to suggest that there may have been ice-free areas that served as refugia during the late Wisconsin. Based on analyses of aerial photographs, topographic maps, and bathymetric charts, in conjunction with a review of previous literature and reconnaissance fieldwork throughout the region, this study presents data supporting a limited ice extent in the Alexander Archipelago during the late Wisconsin and identifies possible ice-free areas that may have served as refugia. These areas include (1) the Fairweather Ground, (2) the Herbert Graves Island area, (3) the western coast of southern Baranof Island and adjacent continental shelf, (4) Coronation Island and the adjacent continental shelf, (5) the Warren Island area, (6) the continental shelf from west of Heceta Island to Forrester Island in the south, (7) parts of the west coast of southern Dall Island, and (8) lowland areas in southern Prince of Wales Island. The identification of these possible refugia has bearing on the recolonization of the Alexander Archipelago, as they could have served as centers of biotic dispersal upon regional deglaciation and as stepping stones for early humans with a maritime tradition entering the western hemisphere from Asia. ?? 2007 NRC Canada.

This paper reports on the first major survey of cyber-bullying undertaken in Ireland. While preliminary results have been published they were based on a smaller and incomplete sample of 12-16 year olds living in Ireland. The preliminary results addressed the incidence level of cyber-bullying and that of the different subcategories of…

The comparison of regional patterns of recessive disease mutations is a new source of information for studies of population genetics. The analysis of phenylketonuria (PKU) mutations in Northern Ireland shows that most major episodes of immigration have left a record in the modern genepool. The mutation 165T can be traced to the Palaeolithic people of western Europe who, in the Mesolithic period, first colonised Ireland. R408W (on haplotype 1) in contrast, the most common Irish PKU mutation, may have been prevalent in the Neolithic farmers who settled in Ireland after 4500 BC. No mutation was identified that could represent European Celtic populations, supporting the view that the adoption of Celtic culture and language in Ireland did not involve major migration from the continent. Several less common mutations can be traced to the Norwegian Atlantic coast and were probably introduced into Ireland by Vikings. This indicates that PKU has not been brought to Norway from the British Isles, as was previously argued. The rarity in Northern Ireland of IVS12nt1, the most common mutation in Denmark and England, indicates that the English colonialization of Ireland did not alter the local genepool in a direction that could be described as Anglo-Saxon. Our results show that the culture and language of a population can be independent of its genetic heritage, and give some insight into the history of the peoples of Northern Ireland. PMID:9254847

The glacial geomorphological record provides an effective means to reconstruct former ice sheets at ice sheet scale. In this paper we document our approach and methods for synthesising and interpreting a glacial landform record for its palaeo-ice flow information, applied to landforms of Ireland. New, countrywide glacial geomorphological maps of Ireland comprising >39,000 glacial landforms are interpreted for the spatial, glaciodynamic and relative chronological information they reveal. Seventy one 'flowsets' comprising glacial lineations, and 19 ribbed moraine flowsets are identified based on the spatial properties of these landforms, yielding information on palaeo-ice flow geometry. Flowset cross-cutting is prevalent and reveals a highly complex flow geometry; major ice divide migrations are interpreted with commensurate changes in the flow configuration of the ice sheet. Landform superimposition is the key to deciphering the chronology of such changes, and documenting superimposition relationships yields a relative 'age-stack' of all Irish flowsets. We use and develop existing templates for interpreting the glaciodynamic context of each flowset - its palaeo-glaciology. Landform patterns consistent with interior ice sheet flow, ice stream flow, and with time-transgressive bedform generation behind a retreating margin, under a thinning ice sheet, and under migrating palaeo-flowlines are each identified. Fast ice flow is found to have evacuated ice from central and northern Ireland into Donegal Bay, and across County Clare towards the south-west. Ice-marginal landform assemblages form a coherent system across southern Ireland marking stages of ice sheet retreat. Time-transgressive, 'smudged' landform imprints are particularly abundant; in several ice sheet sectors ice flow geometry was rapidly varying at timescales close to the timescale of bedform generation. The methods and approach we document herein could be useful for interpreting other ice sheet histories

Interglacial-glacial cycles of the Quaternary are widely recognized in shaping phylogeographic structure. Patterns from cold adapted species can be especially informative - in particular, uncovering additional glacialrefugia, identifying likely recolonization patterns, and increasing our understanding of species’ responses to climate change. We investigated phylogenetic structure of the wolverine, a wide-ranging cold adapted carnivore, using a 318 bp of the mitochondrial DNA control region for 983 wolverines (n = 209 this study, n = 774 from GenBank) from across their full Holarctic distribution. Bayesian phylogenetic tree reconstruction and the distribution of observed pairwise haplotype differences (mismatch distribution) provided evidence of a single rapid population expansion across the wolverine’s Holarctic range. Even though molecular evidence corroborated a single refugium, significant subdivisions of population genetic structure (0.01< ΦST <0.99, P<0.05) were detected. Pairwise ΦST estimates separated Scandinavia from Russia and Mongolia, and identified five main divisions within North America - the Central Arctic, a western region, an eastern region consisting of Ontario and Quebec/Labrador, Manitoba, and California. These data are in contrast to the nearly panmictic structure observed in northwestern North America using nuclear microsatellites, but largely support the nuclear DNA separation of contemporary Manitoba and Ontario wolverines from northern populations. Historic samples (c. 1900) from the functionally extirpated eastern population of Quebec/Labrador displayed genetic similarities to contemporary Ontario wolverines. To understand these divergence patterns, four hypotheses were tested using Approximate Bayesian Computation (ABC). The most supported hypothesis was a single Beringia incursion during the last glacial maximum that established the northwestern population, followed by a west-to-east colonization during the Holocene. This

The results of detailed records and site investigations of reported tornadoes, waterspouts and funnel clouds over the last 3 years (1999-2001) are presented. Part of the analysis also includes the more fragmented record from 1950. These results are placed in the context of the potential for the atmosphere to produce the type of severe convective weather over Ireland often associated with tornadoes. This has been characterised from an analysis of daily values of several extreme weather parameters, namely Convective Available Potential Energy (CAPE), Bulk Richardson Number (BRN) and Severe Weather (SWEAT), derived from upper air soundings at Valentia. It is concluded that this potential is slight, though sufficient to produce moderately intense tornadoes at times. The analysis of the tornado record demonstrates that the annual frequency of such severe events is highly variable. Nevertheless, there have been many as 30 per year, although the average frequency of 10 per year may be more typical. In contrast to neighbouring countries, tornadoes mostly occurred during the summer months, especially August. It suggested that the strong monthly and diurnal patterns in the data might have more complex explanations than appears at first sight, when the particular climatic circumstances of Ireland are taken into account. Tornado intensities have ranged between T0 and T6 (F0 and F3) and a relationship between tornado intensity, track length and track width is considered. Finally, the geographical distribution of tornado and funnel cloud events is presented and an interpretation is given that considers the possible role of the terrain and land surface conditions in the development of atmospheric environments conducive for tornado events in Ireland.

Ireland's soil regions consist largely of Luvisols, Cambisols, and Gleysols. Approximately 60% of Ireland's land area is subject to varying degrees of soil limitations. Twenty-five percent of the land area comprises wet lowland mineral soils. Ninety percent of Ireland's agricultural area comprises pasture, hay, and silage. Approximately 30% of the agricultural area is devoted to dairying, and 55% to cattle production. is devoted to dairying, and 55% to cattle production. Trends in agricultural land use indicate that tillage declined substantially while livestock showed a substantial increase particularly in the decade 1965 1975. Research concludes that over 2.8 million ha has a capacity to carry at least 100 LU/40 ha (100 acres). Levels of fertilizer use in Ireland are below EEC levels. The highest fertilizer use levels are associated with the eastern and southern areas of Ireland. Tillage crops occupy only 10% of the agricultural area, while they account for 26% of tertilizer and lime use.

Ireland has unveiled new terns designed to integrate the licensing regime for oil and gas exploration and development. They apply to new exploration and development authorizations and replace the exclusive offshore licensing terns introduced in 1975. Holders of existing licenses are still subject to the 1975 terms but can choose the new terns under appropriate circumstances. Frontier exploration licenses are currently available to complement the standard and deepwater exploration licenses in use. Rental fees are now spread evenly over the duration of the license, thereby eliminating large upfront payments. Lease extensions also have been introduced to enable operators to judge commerciality of a discovery beyond the set license period.

The literature on sub-glacial volcanic eruptions and the related flood phenomena has been reviewed as a minor part of the larger problem of convective and conductive heat transfer from intrusive magma. (See Lovering, 1955, for a review of the extensive literature on this subject.) This summary of data on sub-glacial eruptions is part of a program that the U.S. Geological Survey is conducting in connection with its Investigations of Geologic Processes project on behalf of the Division of Research, U.S. Atomic Energy Commission.

Refugia have been suggested as priority sites for conservation under climate change because of their ability to facilitate survival of biota under adverse conditions. Here, we review the likely role of refugial habitats in conserving freshwater biota in arid Australian aquatic systems where the major long-term climatic influence has been aridification. We introduce a conceptual model that characterizes evolutionary refugia and ecological refugees based on our review of the attributes of aquatic habitats and freshwater taxa (fishes and aquatic invertebrates) in arid Australia. We also identify methods of recognizing likely future refugia and approaches to assessing the vulnerability of arid-adapted freshwater biota to a warming and drying climate. Evolutionary refugia in arid areas are characterized as permanent, groundwater-dependent habitats (subterranean aquifers and springs) supporting vicariant relicts and short-range endemics. Ecological refugees can vary across space and time, depending on the dispersal abilities of aquatic taxa and the geographical proximity and hydrological connectivity of aquatic habitats. The most important are the perennial waterbodies (both groundwater and surface water fed) that support obligate aquatic organisms. These species will persist where suitable habitats are available and dispersal pathways are maintained. For very mobile species (invertebrates with an aerial dispersal phase) evolutionary refugia may also act as ecological refugees. Evolutionary refugia are likely future refugia because their water source (groundwater) is decoupled from local precipitation. However, their biota is extremely vulnerable to changes in local conditions because population extinction risks cannot be abated by the dispersal of individuals from other sites. Conservation planning must incorporate a high level of protection for aquifers that support refugial sites. Ecological refuges are vulnerable to changes in regional climate because they have

Refugia have been suggested as priority sites for conservation under climate change because of their ability to facilitate survival of biota under adverse conditions. Here, we review the likely role of refugial habitats in conserving freshwater biota in arid Australian aquatic systems where the major long-term climatic influence has been aridification. We introduce a conceptual model that characterizes evolutionary refugia and ecological refuges based on our review of the attributes of aquatic habitats and freshwater taxa (fishes and aquatic invertebrates) in arid Australia. We also identify methods of recognizing likely future refugia and approaches to assessing the vulnerability of arid-adapted freshwater biota to a warming and drying climate. Evolutionary refugia in arid areas are characterized as permanent, groundwater-dependent habitats (subterranean aquifers and springs) supporting vicariant relicts and short-range endemics. Ecological refuges can vary across space and time, depending on the dispersal abilities of aquatic taxa and the geographical proximity and hydrological connectivity of aquatic habitats. The most important are the perennial waterbodies (both groundwater and surface water fed) that support obligate aquatic organisms. These species will persist where suitable habitats are available and dispersal pathways are maintained. For very mobile species (invertebrates with an aerial dispersal phase) evolutionary refugia may also act as ecological refuges. Evolutionary refugia are likely future refugia because their water source (groundwater) is decoupled from local precipitation. However, their biota is extremely vulnerable to changes in local conditions because population extinction risks cannot be abated by the dispersal of individuals from other sites. Conservation planning must incorporate a high level of protection for aquifers that support refugial sites. Ecological refuges are vulnerable to changes in regional climate because they have little

Field evidence and Glacial Isostatic Adjustment (GIA) models help constrain the extent of the British Irish Ice Sheet (BIIS) during and since the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM). Because of differential ice loading histories, relative sea-level (RSL) changes at sites from around the Irish Sea basin are complex. Existing GIA models are constrained using sea-level observations and some poorly dated and unevenly distributed ice margin data, but there is a paucity of RSL observations below -10 m OD that spans the Late Glacial, a period of abrupt RSL change that includes at least one meltwater pulse. Addressing this interval of time requires the collection of new field data from offshore regions around Ireland, taking advantage of recent advances in remote sensing techniques. This paper presents results from offshore eastern Ireland, one of seven areas targeted as part of a larger NERC funded project 'Late Glacial sea-level minima in the Irish Sea'. Previous research in this region has focused on dating raised marine sediments from exposed onshore coastal sections that represent periods of RSL highstands during the early deglaciation. However, the significance of these data for RSL reconstruction and hence their constraints on GIA models is debated. Here we use a combination of marine geophysics (multibeam bathymetry and backscatter, pinger sub-bottom profiler) vibro-coring and laboratory analyses to reconstruct Late Glacial RSL change from this region. The area's bathymetry demonstrate a strong glacial imprint on the northern side of the study area, with a large arcuate fan extending from Dundalk Bay to -18m, perhaps formed during a period of ice readvance, most likely during the Killard Point Stadial (c. 16.5 k cal a BP). Pinger seismic data allow the identification of six seismo-stratigraphic units, of which the most notable is a chaotic unit sitting on a prominent reflector that can be traced between -22 m to -50 m. The unit is interpreted as a gravel lag overlying

article title: An Irish Tale: One City, Two Asteroids View Larger Image ... were recently commemorated by the official naming of two asteroids, "ArmaghObs" and "Ardmacha". The latter is the ancient Gaelic name ...

Background and Aims The cool temperate rainforests of Australia were much reduced in range during the cold and dry glacial periods, although genetic evidence indicates that two key rainforest species, Nothofagus cunninghamii and Tasmannia lanceolata, survived within multiple locations and underwent only local range expansions at the end of the Last Glacial. To better understand the glacial response of a co-occurring but wind-dispersed and less cold-tolerant rainforest tree species, Atherosperma moschatum, a chloroplast phylogeographic study was undertaken. Methods A total of 3294 bp of chloroplast DNA sequence was obtained for 155 samples collected from across the species' range. Key Results The distribution of six haplotypes observed in A. moschatum was geographically structured with an inferred ancestral haplotype restricted to Tasmania, while three non-overlapping and endemic haplotypes were found on the mainland of south-eastern Australia. Last glacialrefugia for A. moschatum are likely to have occurred in at least one location in western Tasmania and in Victoria and within at least two locations in the Great Dividing Range of New South Wales. Nucleotide diversity of A. moschatum was lower (π = 0·00021) than either N. cunninghamii (0·00101) or T. lanceolata (0·00073), and was amongst the lowest recorded for any tree species. Conclusions This study provides evidence for past bottlenecks having impacted the chloroplast diversity of A. moschatum as a result of the species narrower climatic niche during glacials. This hypothesis is supported by the star-like haplotype network and similar estimated rates of chloroplast DNA substitution for A. moschatum and the two more cold tolerant and co-occurring species that have higher chloroplast diversity, N. cunninghamii and T. lanceolata. PMID:21856633

The floras of mountain ranges, and their similarity, beta diversity and endemism, are indicative of processes of community assembly; they are also the initial conditions for coming disassembly and reassembly in response to climate change. As such, these characteristics can inform thinking on refugia. The published floras or approximations for 42 mountain ranges in the three major mountain systems (Sierra-Cascades, Rocky Mountains and Great Basin ranges) across the western USA and southwestern Canada were analysed. The similarity is higher among the ranges of the Rockies while equally low among the ranges of the Sierra-Cascades and Great Basin. Mantel correlations of similarity with geographic distance are also higher for the Rocky Mountains. Endemism is relatively high, but is highest in the Sierra-Cascades (due to the Sierra Nevada as the single largest range) and lowest in the Great Basin, where assemblages are allochthonous. These differences indicate that the geologic substrates of the Cascade volcanoes, which are much younger than any others, play a role in addition to geographic isolation in community assembly. The pattern of similarity and endemism indicates that the ranges of the Cascades will not function well as stepping stones and the endemic species that they harbor may need more protection than those of the Rocky Mountains. The geometry of the ranges is complemented by geology in setting the stage for similarity and the potential for refugia across the West. Understanding the geographic template as initial conditions for the future can guide the forecast of refugia and related monitoring or protection efforts.

At the Meteorology & Climate Centre at University College Dublin, we are using the CLM-Community's COSMO-CLM Regional Climate Model (RCM) and the WRF RCM (developed at NCAR) to simulate the climate of Ireland at high spatial resolution. To address the issue of model uncertainty, a Multi-Model Ensemble (MME) approach is used. The ensemble method uses different RCMs, driven by several Global Climate Models (GCMs), to simulate climate change. Through the MME approach, the uncertainty in the RCM projections is quantified, enabling us to estimate the probability density function of predicted changes, and providing a measure of confidence in the predictions. The RCMs were validated by performing a 20-year simulation of the Irish climate (1981-2000), driven by ECMWF ERA-40 global re-analysis data, and comparing the output to observations. Results confirm that the output of the RCMs exhibit reasonable and realistic features as documented in the historical data record. Projections for the future Irish climate were generated by downscaling the Max Planck Institute's ECHAM5 GCM, the UK Met Office HadGEM2-ES GCM and the CGCM3.1 GCM from the Canadian Centre for Climate Modelling. Simulations were run for a reference period 1961-2000 and future period 2021-2060. The future climate was simulated using the A1B, A2, B1, RCP 4.5 & RCP 8.5 greenhouse gas emission scenarios. Results for the downscaled simulations show a substantial overall increase in precipitation and wind speed for the future winter months and a decrease during the summer months. The predicted annual change in temperature is approximately 1.1°C over Ireland. To date, all RCM projections are in general agreement, thus increasing our confidence in the robustness of the results.

We predict an abrupt observable transition, on the basis of numerical studies, of hantavirus infection in terrain characterized by spatially dependent environmental resources. The underlying framework of the analysis is that of Fisher equations with an internal degree of freedom, the state of infection. The unexpected prediction is of the sudden disappearance of refugia of infection in spite of the existence of supercritical (favorable) food resources, brought about by reduction of their spatial extent. Numerical results are presented and a theoretical explanation is provided on analytic grounds on the basis of the competition of diffusion of rodents carrying the hantavirus and nonlinearity present in the resource interactions.

A survey of 77 individuals covering the range of Mus macedonicus from Georgia in the East to Greece and Bulgaria in the West and Israel in the South has shown the existence of two deeply divergent mitochondrial clades. The southern clade was until now undetected and characterises mice from Israel. Nuclear genes also show some amount of regional differentiation tending to separate the southern M. macedonicus from the northern ones. These results point towards the fact that the eastern Mediterranean short-tailed mouse, which was seen as a fairly homogeneous monotypic species, has in fact a more complex phylogeographic history than has been suspected, and that it warrants the existence of two subspecies. The reasons for this non-uniformity probably ought to be looked for in the history of faunal movements linked to glacial periods, underlining the possible existence of at least two refugia south of the Caucasus. PMID:12399993

We propose that the approx. 100-k.y. cycle seen in terrestrial glaciation is due to changes in meteor flux that come from changes in the Earth's orbit. This model can explain a 70-k.y. 'anomalous' period in climate data and the apparent discrepancy between present extraterrestrial fluxes and those in oceanic sediments. It can be tested by measuring Ir densities in sediments and ice during glacials and interglacials.

Studies of the impacts of historical, current and future global change require very high-resolution climate data (≤ 1 km) as a basis for modelled responses, meaning that data from digital climate models generally require substantial rescaling. Another shortcoming of available datasets on past climate is that the effects of sea level rise and fall are not considered. Without such information, the study of glacialrefugia or early Holocene plant and animal migration are incomplete if not impossible. Sea level at the last glacial maximum (LGM) was approximately 125 m lower, creating substantial additional terrestrial area for which no current baseline data exist. Here, we introduce the development of a novel, gridded climate dataset for LGM that is both very high resolution (1 km) and extends to the LGM sea and land mask. We developed two methods to extend current terrestrial precipitation and temperature data to areas between the current and LGM coastlines. The absolute interpolation error is less than 1 and 0.5 °C for 98.9 and 87.8 %, respectively, of all pixels within two arc degrees of the current coastline. We use the change factor method with these newly assembled baseline data to downscale five global circulation models of LGM climate to a resolution of 1 km for Europe. As additional variables we calculate 19 "bioclimatic" variables, which are often used in climate change impact studies on biological diversity. The new LGM climate maps are well suited for analysing refugia and migration during Holocene warming following the LGM.

Humans evolved in Africa, but where in Africa and by what mechanisms remain unclear. The evolution of modern humans over the last million years is associated with the onset of major global climate fluctuations, glacial to interglacial cycles, related to the build up and melting of large ice sheets in the Northern Hemisphere. During interglacial periods, such as today, warm and wet climates favored human expansion but during cold and dry glacial periods conditions were harsh and habitats fragmented. These large climate fluctuations periodically expanded and contracted African ecosystems and led to human migrations to more hospitable glacialrefugia. Periodic isolation of relatively small numbers of humans may have allowed for their rapid evolutionary divergence from the rest of Africa. During climate transitions these divergent groups may have then dispersed and interbred with other groups (hybridization). Two areas at the opposite ends of Africa stand out as regions that were periodically isolated from the rest of Africa: North Africa (the Maghreb) and the southern coastal plain (SCP) of South Africa. The Maghreb is isolated by the Sahara Desert which periodically greens and is reconnected to the rest of Africa during the transition from glacial to interglacial periods. The SCP of South Africa is isolated from the rest of Africa by the rugged mountains of the Cape Fold Belt associated with inedible vegetation and dry climates to the north. The SCP is periodically opened when sea level falls by up to 130 m during glacial maxima to expose the present day submerged inner continental shelf. A five-fold expansion of the SCP receiving more rainfall in glacial periods may have served as a refuge to humans and large migratory herds. The expansive glacial SCP habitat abruptly contracts, by as much as one-third in 300 yr, during the rapid rise in sea level associated with glacial terminations. Rapid flooding may have increased population density and competition on the SCP to

Background: This study addresses the fast developing behavioural issue of cyberbullying in schools and its complex legal context. Purpose: This study set out to investigate teachers' perceptions of the extent of cyberbullying and the extent to which school leaders in Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland feel knowledgeable and confident…

Ongoing demographic, social, economic and cultural changes point to the dynamic and continually changing contexts of rural areas in Ireland and Northern Ireland. However, the influence of such changes on the lives of older people remains under-explored, particularly the question of how older people perceive, connect to and engage in their…

Dissecting diversity patterns of organisms endemic to Iberia has been truly challenging for a variety of taxa, and the Iberian honey bee is no exception. Surveys of genetic variation in the Iberian honey bee are among the most extensive for any honey bee subspecies. From these, differential and complex patterns of diversity have emerged, which have yet to be fully resolved. Here, we used a genome-wide data set of 309 neutrally tested single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), scattered across the 16 honey bee chromosomes, which were genotyped in 711 haploid males. These SNPs were analysed along with an intergenic locus of the mtDNA, to reveal historical patterns of population structure across the entire range of the Iberian honey bee. Overall, patterns of population structure inferred from nuclear loci by multiple clustering approaches and geographic cline analysis were consistent with two major clusters forming a well-defined cline that bisects Iberia along a northeastern-southwestern axis, a pattern that remarkably parallels that of the mtDNA. While a mechanism of primary intergradation or isolation by distance could explain the observed clinal variation, our results are more consistent with an alternative model of secondary contact between divergent populations previously isolated in glacialrefugia, as proposed for a growing list of other Iberian taxa. Despite current intense honey bee management, human-mediated processes have seemingly played a minor role in shaping Iberian honey bee genetic structure. This study highlights the complexity of the Iberian honey bee patterns and reinforces the importance of Iberia as a reservoir of Apis mellifera diversity. PMID:25930679

For several weeks in May and early June, daily satellite images of the North Atlantic Ocean west of Ireland have captured partial glimpses of luxuriant blooms of microscopic marine plants between patches of clouds. On June 4, 2007, the skies over the ocean cleared, displaying the sea's spring bloom in brilliant color. A bright blue bloom stretches north from the Mouth of the River Shannon and tapers off like a plume of blue smoke north of Clare Island. (In the large image, a second bloom is visible to the north, wrapping around County Donegal, on the island's northwestern tip.) The image was captured by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA's Terra satellite. Cold, nutrient-stocked water often wells up to the surface from the deeper ocean along coastal shelves and at the edges of ocean currents. When it does, it delivers a boost of nutrients that fuel large blooms of single-celled plants collectively known as phytoplankton. The plants are the foundation of the marine food web, and their proliferation in this area of the North Atlantic explains why the waters of western Ireland support myriad fisheries and populations of large mammals like seals, whales, and dolphins. Like plants on land, phytoplankton make their food through photosynthesis, harnessing sunlight for energy using chlorophyll and other light-capturing pigments. The pigments change the way light reflects off the surface water, appearing as colorful swirls of turquoise and green against the darker blue of the ocean. Though individually tiny, collectively these plants play a big role in Earth's carbon and climate cycles; worldwide, they remove about as much carbon dioxide from the atmosphere during photosynthesis as land plants do. Satellites are the only way to map the occurrence of phytoplankton blooms across the global oceans on a regular basis. That kind of information is important not only to scientists who model carbon and climate, but also to biologists and fisheries

The National Cancer Institute (NCI) has recently decided to embark on an international partnership with the developing cancer programs on the Island of Ireland (Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland) in an attempt to further improve the quality and range of cancer services available for patients. This Transatlantic Partnership called the All Ireland-NCI Cancer Consortium offers exciting opportunities in cancer treatment, education and research as the cancer-caring communities from both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland prepare to join with the U.S. NCI in this major endeavor. The inaugural event of the partnership will be the NCI All Ireland Cancer Conference to be held in Belfast, October 3-6, 1999. (See www.allirelandcancer.com, for information on the conference.) Cancer is a significant cause of mortality and morbidity on the Island of Ireland. There are approximately 28,000 new cases and approximately 11,000 deaths from cancer each year. Therefore, Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland have among the highest cancer incidence and mortality rates in the Western World. In recent years there has been a major restructuring of cancer services in both parts of the Island. This is the result of several government reports such as the Campbell Report in Northern Ireland and the National Strategy Document for Cancer in the Republic of Ireland. The National Strategy Document proposes that cancer treatment services should be centered around primary care services, regional services, supra-regional centers and a national coordinating structure whereby the supra-regional centers deliver specialist surgery, medical and radiation oncology, rehabilitation and specialist palliative care. Three supra-regional cancer centers are being established in the cities of Dublin, Cork and Galway and a National Cancer Forum, which has served as a multidisciplinary advisory board to the Government, has pushed the development and implementation of this plan. This has

The problem of how and when the island of Ireland attained its contemporary fauna has remained a key question in understanding Quaternary faunal assemblages. We assessed the complex history and origins of the red deer (Cervus elaphus) in Ireland using a multi-disciplinary approach. Mitochondrial sequences of contemporary and ancient red deer (dating from c 30,000 to 1700 cal. yr BP) were compared to decipher possible source populations of red deer in Ireland, in addition to craniometric analyses of skulls from candidate regions to distinguish between different colonization scenarios. Radiocarbon dating was undertaken on all bone fragments that were previously undated. Finally, a comprehensive review of the scientific literature, unpublished reports and other sources of data were also searched for red deer remains within Irish palaeontological and archaeological contexts. Despite being present in Ireland prior to the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM), there is a notable scarcity of red deer from the Younger Dryas stadial period until the Neolithic. The presence of red deer in Irish archaeological sites then occurs more frequently relative to other species. One population in the southwest of Ireland (Co. Kerry) shared haplotypes with the ancient Irish specimens and molecular dating and craniometric analysis suggests its persistence in Ireland since the Neolithic period. The synthesis of the results from this multi-disciplinary study all indicate that red deer were introduced by humans during the Irish Neolithic period and that one of these populations persists today. In conjunction with recent results from other species, Neolithic people from Ireland's nearest landmass, Britain, played a vital role in establishing its contemporary fauna and flora.

Southwestern Australia has been recognized as a biodiversity hot spot of global significance, and it is particularly well known for its considerable diversity of flowering plant species. Questions of interest are how this region became so diverse and whether its fauna show similar diverse patterns of speciation. Here, we carried out a phylogeographic study of trapdoor spiders (Migidae: Moggridgea), a presumed Gondwanan lineage found in wet forest localities across southwestern Australia. Phylogenetic, molecular clock and population genetic analyses of mitochondrial (mtDNA) COI gene and ITS rRNA (internal transcribed spacer) data revealed considerable phylogeographic structuring of Moggridgea populations, with evidence for long-term (>3 million years) isolation of at least nine populations in different geographic locations, including upland regions of the Stirling and Porongurup Ranges. High levels of mtDNA divergence and no evidence of recent mitochondrial gene flow among valley populations of the Stirling Range suggest that individual valleys have acted as refugia for the spiders throughout the Pleistocene. Our findings support the hypothesis that climate change, particularly the aridification of Australia after the late Miocene, and the topography of the landscape, which allowed persistence of moist habitats, have been major drivers of speciation in southwestern Australia. PMID:21689192

Identification of refugia is an increasingly important adaptation strategy in conservation planning under rapid anthropogenic climate change. Granite outcrops (GOs) provide extraordinary diversity, including a wide range of taxa, vegetation types and habitats in the Southwest Australian Floristic Region (SWAFR). However, poor characterization of GOs limits the capacity of conservation planning for refugia under climate change. A novel means for the rapid identification of potential refugia is presented, based on the assessment of local-scale environment and vegetation structure in a wider region. This approach was tested on GOs across the SWAFR. Airborne discrete return Light Detection And Ranging (LiDAR) data and Red Green and Blue (RGB) imagery were acquired. Vertical vegetation profiles were used to derive 54 structural classes. Structural vegetation types were described in three areas for supervised classification of a further 13 GOs across the region. Habitat descriptions based on 494 vegetation plots on and around these GOs were used to quantify relationships between environmental variables, ground cover and canopy height. The vegetation surrounding GOs is strongly related to structural vegetation types (Kappa = 0.8) and to its spatial context. Water gaining sites around GOs are characterized by taller and denser vegetation in all areas. The strong relationship between rainfall, soil-depth, and vegetation structure (R2 of 0.8–0.9) allowed comparisons of vegetation structure between current and future climate. Significant shifts in vegetation structural types were predicted and mapped for future climates. Water gaining areas below granite outcrops were identified as important putative refugia. A reduction in rainfall may be offset by the occurrence of deeper soil elsewhere on the outcrop. However, climate change interactions with fire and water table declines may render our conclusions conservative. The LiDAR-based mapping approach presented enables the

Background The Iberian Peninsula is recognized as an important refugial area for species survival and diversification during the climatic cycles of the Quaternary. Recent phylogeographic studies have revealed Iberia as a complex of multiple refugia. However, most of these studies have focused either on species with narrow distributions within the region or species groups that, although widely distributed, generally have a genetic structure that relates to pre-Quaternary cladogenetic events. In this study we undertake a detailed phylogeographic analysis of the lizard species, Lacerta lepida, whose distribution encompasses the entire Iberian Peninsula. We attempt to identify refugial areas, recolonization routes, zones of secondary contact and date demographic events within this species. Results Results support the existence of 6 evolutionary lineages (phylogroups) with a strong association between genetic variation and geography, suggesting a history of allopatric divergence in different refugia. Diversification within phylogroups is concordant with the onset of the Pleistocene climatic oscillations. The southern regions of several phylogroups show a high incidence of ancestral alleles in contrast with high incidence of recently derived alleles in northern regions. All phylogroups show signs of recent demographic and spatial expansions. We have further identified several zones of secondary contact, with divergent mitochondrial haplotypes occurring in narrow zones of sympatry. Conclusions The concordant patterns of spatial and demographic expansions detected within phylogroups, together with the high incidence of ancestral haplotypes in southern regions of several phylogroups, suggests a pattern of contraction of populations into southern refugia during adverse climatic conditions from which subsequent northern expansions occurred. This study supports the emergent pattern of multiple refugia within Iberia but adds to it by identifying a pattern of refugia coincident

Identification of refugia is an increasingly important adaptation strategy in conservation planning under rapid anthropogenic climate change. Granite outcrops (GOs) provide extraordinary diversity, including a wide range of taxa, vegetation types and habitats in the Southwest Australian Floristic Region (SWAFR). However, poor characterization of GOs limits the capacity of conservation planning for refugia under climate change. A novel means for the rapid identification of potential refugia is presented, based on the assessment of local-scale environment and vegetation structure in a wider region. This approach was tested on GOs across the SWAFR. Airborne discrete return Light Detection And Ranging (LiDAR) data and Red Green and Blue (RGB) imagery were acquired. Vertical vegetation profiles were used to derive 54 structural classes. Structural vegetation types were described in three areas for supervised classification of a further 13 GOs across the region. Habitat descriptions based on 494 vegetation plots on and around these GOs were used to quantify relationships between environmental variables, ground cover and canopy height. The vegetation surrounding GOs is strongly related to structural vegetation types (Kappa = 0.8) and to its spatial context. Water gaining sites around GOs are characterized by taller and denser vegetation in all areas. The strong relationship between rainfall, soil-depth, and vegetation structure (R(2) of 0.8-0.9) allowed comparisons of vegetation structure between current and future climate. Significant shifts in vegetation structural types were predicted and mapped for future climates. Water gaining areas below granite outcrops were identified as important putative refugia. A reduction in rainfall may be offset by the occurrence of deeper soil elsewhere on the outcrop. However, climate change interactions with fire and water table declines may render our conclusions conservative. The LiDAR-based mapping approach presented enables the

Provides historical information on the potato in Ireland focusing on how the potato arrived in Ireland and the advantages and disadvantages of the potato as a food crop. Discusses the Irish potato famine in Ireland, effects of the famine, and the government's laissez-faire response. Includes a list of questions. (CMK)

Exclusive breastfeeding among Polish mothers at three-four months (38.6 per cent) is in keeping with the low rates of breastfeeding in Ireland overall (Begley et al 2008), and suggests that Polish women have begun to adopt the infant feeding practices of Irish women. Therefore, the aim of this study was to explore the factors that influence Polish women's decisions to initiate and continue breastfeeding in Ireland. A descriptive qualitative approach was utilised to explore participants' perspectives of breastfeeding. Results showed that professional and family support are key to a successful breastfeeding experience for these mothers. Recommendations include further individualised support in order to meet the needs of Polish women breastfeeding in Ireland. PMID:26975131

Background The Colchis is one of the species-rich refugia and a centre of biological diversity in western Eurasia. We analysed patterns of richness, endemism and invasions in relation to taxonomy (family membership), life form, certain habitats in the Colchis, and compared them to patterns found for Japan. Results We found that in the Colchis perennials are significantly over-represented in endemic species, and that they typically occur on limestone soils and in alpine tall herbaceous vegetation. The Asteraceae produce significantly large number of both endemic and alien species, whereas the Poaceae are over-represented in alien species but under-represented in endemics. Likewise, the Apiaceae are over-represented in endemics, whereas the Euphorbiaceae are over-represented in alien species. Similar patterns have been found in Yakushima, Japan. The Morisita-Horn index of similarity between these two sites was 0.83 (based on family size). Although the flora of Adjara comprised of fewer families than the flora of Yakushima, the largest families are richer in species in the flora of Adjara than in the flora of Yakushima. Conclusions Floristic analysis of refugia of western Eurasia and their comparison with geographically distant areas can provide useful data for plant ecological and evolutionary studies. Potentially, such studies can produce testable hypotheses on plant migrations and on their historical geography. For example, the data presented in this study indicate that more severe conditions in the Pleistocene and geographical isolation of the Colchis may be responsible for the higher relative importance of adaptive radiation in the shaping of its modern flora. PMID:11801200

Global climate change is an increasingly important driver of changes in the biogeograpraphy of vegetation. Such changes have primarily been characterized by gradual shifts in species distribution; however, major disturbances acting in concert with climate change may result in a sudden 'jump' in biogeographical distribution. This study examines the effects of wildfire on forest composition along an environmental gradient in the eastern Cascade Mountains of Central Washington, USA. A previous study by Camp et al. (1997) examined three drainages in this complex mountainous landscape to identify and characterize historic wildfire refugia based on topographic characteristics and forest age and species composition. These drainages subsequently burned in the 2012 Table Mountain and Peavine Canyon fires. In 2014 the Camp et al. plots were re-established and re-sampled to (1) assess burn severity using the Composite Burn Index (CBI) protocol and (2) assess fire effects upon the individual trees in each study plot. Remotely sensed imagery classified using the differenced Normalized Burn Ratio (dNBR) indicated these fires burned more intensely than historical fires in the region, providing a potential harbinger of future fire severity under climate change. Analysis of burn severity revealed that the fire burned across the entire environmental gradient of the drainages, with no significant difference in burn occurrence or burn severity between refugial and non-refugial plots as designated by Camp et al.; this suggests that historical wildfire refugia may no longer prove sustainable in an era of climate change. Additionally, trees characteristic of warmer and drier climates experienced lower fire mortality than trees typical of cooler and moister climates. If future reseeding and recruitment in the forest favors more xeric tree species, the 2012 fires may prove to be the disturbance event that precipitates a 'jump' in the biogeographic distribution of trees in these drainages.

Perceptual-biases are important for understanding an animal's natural history, identifying potential ecological traps, and for developing effective means to monitor individuals and populations. Despite research demonstrating anurans having a positive phototactic response towards blue colors, we do not yet understand if color cues are used functionally beyond sexual selection. The aim of our study was to determine if color cues are used in selecting microhabitat, and if anuran's blue-positive phototactic response could increase selection of artificial PVC refugia used to monitor cryptic camouflaging anuran species. We captured 32 Cope's Gray Treefrogs and placed them in mesh enclosures with three PVC tubes painted blue, brown, and white. Concurrently, we placed blue, brown, or unpainted white PVC tubes in stratified arrays around a treefrog breeding pond, and counted the number of occasions treefrogs occupied different colored PVC tubes. In the confined choice experiment, treefrogs selected blue tubes (48.3%) significantly more often than brown (28.5%) or white (23.2%) tubes. Our field experiment mirrored these findings (52.0% of capture events in blue, 29.0% in brown, and 19.0% in unpainted white tubes). Our results suggest color influences Cope's Gray Treefrog microhabitat selection, and they utilize color vision when choosing refugia. We demonstrate simple, small changes based on perceptual-biases can induce behaviors that may in turn have large impacts on sampling techniques used in monitoring and inventorying. Incorporating non-traditional physiological measures into animal inventorying and monitoring programs can be used in the future to improve conservation efforts. PMID:27235736

We quantified movements of brook trout Salvelinus fontinalis and brown trout Salmo trutta in a complex riverscape characterized by a large, open-canopy main stem and a small, closed-canopy tributary in eastern West Virginia, USA. Our objectives were to quantify the overall rate of trout movement and relate movement behaviors to variation in streamflow, water temperature, and access to coldwater refugia. The study area experienced extremely high seasonal, yearly, and among-stream variability in water temperature and flow. The relative mobility of brook trout within the upper Shavers Fork watershed varied significantly depending on whether individuals resided within the larger main stem or the smaller tributary. The movement rate of trout inhabiting the main stem during summer months (50 m/d) was an order of magnitude higher than that of tributary fish (2 m/d). Movement rates of main-stem-resident brook trout during summer were correlated with the maximum water temperature experienced by the fish and with the fish's initial distance from a known coldwater source. For main-stem trout, use of microhabitats closer to cover was higher during extremely warm periods than during cooler periods; use of microhabitats closer to cover during warm periods was also greater for main-stem trout than for tributary inhabitants. Main-stem-resident trout were never observed in water exceeding 19.5°C. Our study provides some of the first data on brook trout movements in a large Appalachian river system and underscores the importance of managing trout fisheries in a riverscape context. Brook trout conservation in this region will depend on restoration and protection of coldwater refugia in larger river main stems as well as removal of barriers to trout movement near tributary and main-stem confluences.

Three different groups of hydration rinds have been measured on thin sections of obsidian from Obsidian Cliff, Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming. The average thickness of the thickest (oldest) group of hydration rinds is 16.3 micrometers and can be related to the original emplacement of the flow 176,000 years ago (potassium-argon age). In addition to these original surfaces, most thin sections show cracks and surfaces which have average hydration rind thicknesses of 14.5 and 7.9 micrometers. These later two hydration rinds compare closely in thickness with those on obsidian pebbles in the Bull Lake and Pinedale terminal moraines in the West Yellowstone Basin, which are 14 to 15 and 7 to 8 micrometers thick, respectively. The later cracks are thought to have been formed by glacial loading during the Bull Lake and Pinedale glaciations, when an estimated 800 meters of ice covered the Obsidian Cliff flow. PMID:17806883

Three different groups of hydration rinds have been measured on thin sections of obsidian from Obsidian Cliff, Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming . The average thickness of the thickest (oldest) group of hydration rinds is 16.3 micrometers and can be related to the original emplacement of the flow 176,000 years ago (potassium-argon age). In addition to these original surfaces, most thin sections show cracks and surfaces which have average hydration rind thicknesses of 14.5 and 7.9 micrometers. These later two hydration rinds compare closely in thickness with those on obsidian pebbles in the Bull Lake and Pinedale terminal moraines in the West Yellowstone Basin, which are 14 to 15 and 7 to 8 micrometers thick, respectively. The later cracks are thought to have been formed by glacial loading during the Bull Lake and Pinedale glaciations, when an estimated 800 meters of ice covered the Obsidian Cliff flow.

Biogeographers claimed for more than a century that arctic plants survived glaciations in ice-free refugia within the limits of the North European ice sheets. Molecular studies have, however, provided overwhelming support for postglacial immigration into northern Europe, even from the west across the Atlantic. For the first time we can here present molecular evidence strongly favouring in situ glacial persistence of two species, the rare arctic-alpine pioneer species Sagina caespitosa and Arenaria humifusa. Both belong to the 'west-arctic element' of amphi-Atlantic disjuncts, having their few and only European occurrences well within the limits of the last glaciation. Sequencing of non-coding regions of chloroplast DNA revealed only limited variation. However, two very distinct and partly diverse genetic groups, one East and one West Atlantic, were detected in each species based on amplified fragment length polymorphisms (AFLPs), excluding postglacial dispersal from North America as explanation for their European occurrences. Patterns of genetic diversity and distinctiveness indicate that glacial populations existed in East Greenland and/or Svalbard (A. humifusa) and in southern Scandinavia (S. caespitosa). Despite their presumed lack of long-distance dispersal adaptations, intermixed populations in several regions indicate postglacial contact zones. Both species are declining in Nordic countries, probably due to climate change-induced habitat loss. Little or no current connectivity between their highly fragmented and partly distinct populations call for conservation of several populations in each geographic region. PMID:21156004

The North Atlantic intertidal gastropod, Littorina saxatilis (Olivi, 1792), exhibits extreme morphological variation between and within geographic regions and has become a model for studies of local adaptation; yet a comprehensive analysis of the species' phylogeography is lacking. Here, we examine phylogeographic patterns of the species' populations in the North Atlantic and one remote Mediterranean population using sequence variation in a fragment of the mitochondrial cytochrome b gene (607 bp). We found that, as opposed to many other rocky intertidal species, L. saxatilis has likely had a long and continuous history in the Northwest Atlantic, including survival during the last glacial maximum (LGM), possibly in two refugia. In the Northeast Atlantic, several areas likely harboured refugial populations that recolonized different parts of this region after glacial retreat, resulting in strong population structure. However, the outlying monomorphic Venetian population is likely a recent anthropogenic introduction from northern Europe and not a remnant of an earlier wider distribution in the Mediterranean Sea. Overall, our detailed phylogeography of L. saxatilis adds an important piece to the understanding of Pleistocene history in North Atlantic marine biota as well as being the first study to describe the species' evolutionary history in its natural range. The latter contribution is noteworthy because the snail has recently become an important model species for understanding evolutionary processes of speciation; thus our work provides integral information for such endeavours. PMID:21412417

This article focuses upon Ireland's institute of technology sector, which has been transformed from a 1970s technical orientation to its broader current role of research and higher education provision. The transformational shifts experienced by institutes over the previous three decades have been profound: increased autonomy, new managerial and…

The significance of entrepreneurship has come into sharper focus as enterprise and innovation are being flagged as solutions to regenerate the Irish economy. The Irish Innovation Task Force believes that Ireland could become an "innovation hub", attracting foreign risk capital and international and indigenous entrepreneurs to start and grow…

With the presence of the stormy NE Atlantic, Ireland is ideally located to investigate further our understanding of ocean generated microseisms and use noise correlation methods to develop seismic imaging in marine environments as well as time-lapse monitoring. In order to study the microseismic activity offshore Ireland, 10 Broad Band Ocean Bottom Seismographs (OBSs) units including hydrophones have been deployed in January 2016 across the shelf offshore Donegal and out into the Rockall Trough. This survey represents the first Broadband passive study in this part of the NE Atlantic. The instruments will be recovered in August 2016 providing 8 months worth of data to study microseisms but also the offshore seismic activity in the area. One of the main goal of the survey is to investigate the spatial and temporal distributions of dominant microseism source regions, close to the microseism sources. Additionally we will study the coupling of seismic and acoustic signals at the sea bed and its evolution in both the deep water and continental shelf areas. Furthermore, the survey also aims to investigate further the relationship between sea state conditions (e.g. wave height, period), seafloor pressure variations and seismic data recorded on both land and seafloor. Finally, the deployed OBS network is also the first ever attempt to closely monitor local offshore earthquakes in Ireland. Ireland seismicity although relatively low can reduce slope stability and poses the possibility of triggering large offshore landslides and local tsunamis.

The regional medical library service provided to physicians, hospitals, nurses, social workers, and health care administrators throughout Northern Ireland by the Queen's University of Belfast is described. A brief outline of the National Health Service in the United Kingdom is given, and the library service is described in terms of collections, cataloging, interlibrary loan, and reference. PMID:2224299

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to investigate whether small and medium-sized family businesses in Ireland have the potential to be classified as learning organizations. Design/methodology/approach: The research methodology adopted for this study is that of multiple-case studies. In this research, personal interviews were selected as the…

The harp as a symbol of the Irish people is discussed. The first part of the paper discusses the early use of the harp in Irish society and how the magical powers of this instrument affected the natives and invaders of the small island for centuries. From the time of the Celtic occupation of Ireland in 500 BC, music played by harpers has been…

This monograph describes the various approaches to vocational training in Ireland. The report was compiled from existing statistics, various studies, and interviews with representatives of all the organizations, colleges, companies, and institutes involved in vocational training. Section 1 provides background information on political structures,…

The regional medical library service provided to physicians, hospitals, nurses, social workers, and health care administrators throughout Northern Ireland by the Queen's University of Belfast is described. A brief outline of the National Health Service in the United Kingdom is given, and the library service is described in terms of collections, cataloging, interlibrary loan, and reference. PMID:2224299

The new National Maritime College of Ireland is regarded as the country's most exciting and innovative development in maritime training and education and is the first tertiary institution to be built and operated under the government's Public Private Partnership (PPP) model of procurement. The project is the outcome of a partnership between Cork…

Language planning for the Irish language in the Republic of Ireland has featured prominently in international language policy and planning literature over the years. Researchers in the field may not be up to date, however, with recent developments in the area of Irish language planning and their impact on the language ecology. This monograph…

Starch–gel electrophoresis was used to analyze muscle and liver tissue for variation in 13 enzymes representing 31 presumptive loci in yellow perch (Perca flavescens) from 13 localities scattered throughout the natural geographic range of the species in North America. Ten loci were polymorphic, but only three, alcohol dehydrogenase (ADH-1*), glucose-6-phosphate isomerase (GPI-1*), and phosphoglucomutase (PGM-2*), exhibited polymorphisms at relatively high frequencies across localities. Western populations were fixed for one allele at ADH-1*, eastern populations were fixed for another allele, and populations from intermediate locations in Lake Ontario and Pennsylvania had both alleles. The distributions of alleles at GPI-1* and PGM-2*were similar to that of ADH-1*, exhibiting strong differences between eastern and western populations, although the delineation was not as clear. Western populations were much less variable than eastern populations, and the distribution of alleles indicated that the two groups were derived from Mississippi and Atlantic glacialrefugia. Populations near the physiographic discontinuity between the Mississippi and Atlantic drainages in western New York and Pennsylvania exhibited an admixture of typically western and eastern alleles. Such observations are consistent with the mixed faunal history of the region and limited postglacial dispersal of western and eastern populations across the boundary.

Two lake records from the Kankaren region of southern Chukotka, when combined with other palynological and macrofossil data, document spatial and temporal variations in the regional vegetation history since ˜21,000 14C/25,400 cal yr BP. Full-glacial environments were severely cold and arid in central and northern Chukotka, whereas southern sites experienced conditions that were relatively moist, although still drier than present. Southern Chukotka may represent a western extension of environments of the land bridge proper, including a possible 'moisture' barrier to intercontinental migration. Shrub Betula tundra established earliest in southern Chukotka (˜15,800-14,000 14C/19,000-16,700 cal yr BP; ˜13,000 14C/15,300 cal yr BP central and north), Pinus pumila earliest in the north (˜9600 14C/11,100 cal yr BP; ˜7600 14C/8400 cal yr BP south), and shrub Alnus earliest in both the south and north (˜12,000-11,000 14C/13,800-12,900 cal yr BP). These patterns support the presence of cryptic refugia for Betula and Alnus in Chukotka during the full glaciation. In contrast, P. pumila probably migrated into Chukotka from populations located in the northern coastal lowlands and from mountainous regions of southwestern Beringia. Evidence for a thermal optimum (˜11,000-8000 14C/12,900-9000 cal yr BP) is strong in northern Chukotka but is absent in central and southern areas.

Despite recent advances in the understanding of the interplay between a dynamic physical environment and phylogeography in Europe, the origins of contemporary Irish biota remain uncertain. Current thinking is that Ireland was colonized post-glacially from southern European refugia, following the end of the last glacial maximum (LGM), some 20 000 years BP. The Leisler's bat (Nyctalus leisleri), one of the few native Irish mammal species, is widely distributed throughout Europe but, with the exception of Ireland, is generally rare and considered vulnerable. We investigate the origins and phylogeographic relationships of Irish populations in relation to those across Europe, including the closely related species N. azoreum. We use a combination of approaches, including mitochondrial and nuclear DNA markers, in addition to approximate Bayesian computation and palaeo-climatic species distribution modelling. Molecular analyses revealed two distinct and diverse European mitochondrial DNA lineages, which probably diverged in separate glacialrefugia. A western lineage, restricted to Ireland, Britain and the Azores, comprises Irish and British N. leisleri and N. azoreum specimens; an eastern lineage is distributed throughout mainland Europe. Palaeo-climatic projections indicate suitable habitats during the LGM, including known glacialrefugia, in addition to potential novel cryptic refugia along the western fringe of Europe. These results may be applicable to populations of many species. PMID:25716786

Despite recent advances in the understanding of the interplay between a dynamic physical environment and phylogeography in Europe, the origins of contemporary Irish biota remain uncertain. Current thinking is that Ireland was colonized post-glacially from southern European refugia, following the end of the last glacial maximum (LGM), some 20 000 years BP. The Leisler's bat (Nyctalus leisleri), one of the few native Irish mammal species, is widely distributed throughout Europe but, with the exception of Ireland, is generally rare and considered vulnerable. We investigate the origins and phylogeographic relationships of Irish populations in relation to those across Europe, including the closely related species N. azoreum. We use a combination of approaches, including mitochondrial and nuclear DNA markers, in addition to approximate Bayesian computation and palaeo-climatic species distribution modelling. Molecular analyses revealed two distinct and diverse European mitochondrial DNA lineages, which probably diverged in separate glacialrefugia. A western lineage, restricted to Ireland, Britain and the Azores, comprises Irish and British N. leisleri and N. azoreum specimens; an eastern lineage is distributed throughout mainland Europe. Palaeo-climatic projections indicate suitable habitats during the LGM, including known glacialrefugia, in addition to potential novel cryptic refugia along the western fringe of Europe. These results may be applicable to populations of many species. PMID:25716786

During the last glaciation (marine oxygen isotope stage 2), outburst floods from glacial Lake Missoula deposited diagnostic sediments within glacial Lake Columbia. Two dominant outburst flood lithofacies are present within glacial Lake Columbia deposits: a flood expansion bar facies and a finer-grained hyperpycnite facies. We conclude that the flood sediments have a glacial Lake Missoula source because: (1) current indicators indicate westward flow through the lake, and upvalley flow followed by downvalley flow in tributary valleys; (2) no flood sediments are found north of a certain point; (3) there is a dominance of Belt-Purcell Supergroup clasts in a flood expansion bar; and (4) some of the finer-grained beds have a pink colour, reflective of glacial Lake Missoula lake-bottom sediments. A new radiocarbon age of 13,400 ± 100 14C BP on plant detritus found below 37 flood beds helps constrain the timing of outburst flooding from glacial Lake Missoula.

Pleistocene climatic fluctuations had major impacts on desert biota in southwestern North America. During cooler and wetter periods, drought-adapted species were isolated into refugia, in contrast to expansion of their ranges during the massive aridification in the Holocene. Here, we use Melampodium leucanthum (Asteraceae), a species of the North American desert and semi-desert regions, to investigate the impact of major aridification in southwestern North America on phylogeography and evolution in a widespread and abundant drought-adapted plant species. The evidence for three separate Pleistocene refugia at different time levels suggests that this species responded to the Quaternary climatic oscillations in a cyclic manner. In the Holocene, once differentiated lineages came into secondary contact and intermixed, but these range expansions did not follow the eastwardly progressing aridification, but instead occurred independently out of separate Pleistocene refugia. As found in other desert biota, the Continental Divide has acted as a major migration barrier for M. leucanthum since the Pleistocene. Despite being geographically restricted to the eastern part of the species' distribution, autotetraploids in M. leucanthum originated multiple times and do not form a genetically cohesive group. PMID:20670366

Stream temperature plays a critical role in determining the overall structure and function of stream ecosystems. Aquatic fauna are particularly vulnerable to projected increases in the magnitude and duration of elevated stream temperatures from global climate change. Northern California cold water salmon and trout fisheries have been declared thermally impacted by the California State Water Resources Control Board. This study employed Distributed Temperature Sensing (DTS) to detect stream heating and cooling at one meter resolution along a one kilometer section of the North Fork of the Salmon River, a tributary of the Klamath River, northern California, USA. The Salmon River has an extensive legacy of hydraulic gold mining tailing which have been reworked into large gravel bars; creating shallow wide runs, possibly filling in pools and disrupting riparian vegetation recruitment. Eight days of temperature data were collected at 15 minute intervals during July 2012. Three remote weather stations were deployed during the study period. The main objectives of this research were: one, quantify thermal inputs that create and maintain thermal refugia for cold water fishes; two, investigate the role of riparian and topographic shading in buffering peak summer temperatures; and three, create and validate a physically based stream heating model to predict effects of riparian management, drought, and climate change on stream temperature. DTS was used to spatially identify cold water seeps and quantify their contribution to the stream's thermal regime. Along the one kilometer reach, hyporheic flow was identified using DTS. The spring was between 16-18°C while the peak mainstem temperature above the spring reached a maximum of 23°C. The study found a diel heating cycle of 5°C with a Maximum Weekly Average Temperature (MWAT) of over 22°C; exceeding salmon and trout protective temperature standards set by USEPA Region 10. Twenty intensive fish counts over five days were

Quantifying the controls on glacial erosion over geologic timescales is necessary to understand the role of Cenozoic climate change on the development of modern mountain belts. Unfortunately, understanding the spatial distribution of glacial erosion during repeated glaciations has proven difficult. We present results that integrate bedrock and detrital thermochronometer cooling ages with a glacial landscape evolution model. We use this to quantify the spatial distribution and temporal variability of glacial erosion in the Coast Mountains, British Columbia, Canada. A total of 100 apatite (U-Th)/He and 106 fission track single grain ages are presented from modern outwash of the Tiedemann Glacier whose catchment elevations range from 530-3960 m a.s.l.. Detrital thermochronometer ages utilize the tendency of thermochronometer cooling ages to increase with elevation and provide a sediment tracer for the elevation that eroded sediment is derived from. Bedrock ages used include 79 apatite (U-Th)/He ages collected in multiple catchments. Erosion rates derived from bedrock ages are compared to predicted erosion rates from a shallow-ice approximation glacial landscape evolution model of the region. Results from the observed distribution of detrital ages indicate that maximum glacial erosion occurs between elevations of 1200-1800m. Furthermore, near-uniform erosion is documented beneath the glacier with nearly all sediment derived from between elevations of 650- 3000 m a.s.l. Second, comparison of erosion rates derived from bedrock thermochronometer ages with the landscape evolution model suggest that a linear glacial sliding velocity is the primary control on erosion (r2=0.6). This result is important as it provides observational validation of the linear slide velocity erosion rule for million-year timescales. Finally, comparison of model and thermochronometer derived erosion rates reveals that active subglacial erosion occurs for only ~10-20% of a glacial-interglacial cycle

Analyses of the floras of the high north Andean habitat islands (paramos) and the Galápagos Islands show that plant species diversity conforms to the MacArthur and Wilson model of island biogeography but that immigration occurred primarily during glacial periods. Modern plant species diversity is more significantly correlated with area and distance measures of the glacial forms of the islands than with similar measures of the present-day islands. PMID:17736375

Large calving events at Greenland's outlet glaciers produce teleseismically detectable glacial earthquakes. These events are observed in the seismic record for the past 22 years, but the complete catalog of glacial earthquakes still numbers only ~300. The annual occurrence of these long-period events has increased over time, which makes recent years especially valuable in expanding the global dataset. Glacial earthquakes from 1993- 2010 have been analyzed systematically (Tsai and Ekström, 2007; Veitch and Nettles, 2012). Here, we analyze more recent events using the same centroid—single-force (CSF) approach as previous authors, focusing initially on data from 2013. In addition, we perform a focused study of selected events from 2009-2010 to assess the reliability of the force azimuths obtained from such inversions. Recent spatial and temporal patterns of glacial earthquakes in Greenland differ from those in previous years. In 2013, three times as many events occurred on the west coast as on the east, and these events originated predominantly from two glaciers: Jakobshavn Glacier on the west coast and Helheim Glacier on the east. Kangerdlugssuaq Glacier, on the east coast, produced no glacial earthquakes in 2013, though it produced many events in earlier years. Previous CSF results for glacial earthquakes show force azimuths perpendicular to the glacier front during a calving event, with force plunges near horizontal. However, some azimuths indicate forces initially oriented upglacier, while others are oriented downglacier (seaward). We perform a set of experiments on events from 2009 and 2010 and find two acceptable solutions for each glacial earthquake, oriented 180° apart with plunges of opposite sign and centroid times differing by approximately one half of the assumed duration of the earthquake time function. These results suggest the need for a more complex time function to model glacial earthquakes more accurately.

Over the last 20 years, it has become clear that ice ages are characterized by glacial as well as climatic instability on millennial time scales. In his Perspective, Colman highlights two recent papers investigating the role of glacial meltwater and continental drainage in this instability. The results suggest a fundamental instability feedback between ocean circulation and ice sheet dynamics and provides an explanation for why instability was greatest at times of intermediate ice volume.

The biogeography of freshwater fish species during and after late-Pleistocene glaciations relate to how these species are genetically organized today, and the management of these often disjunct populations. Debate exists concerning the biogeography and routes of dispersal for Northern pike (Esox lucius) after the last glaciation. A hypothesis to account for the relatively low modern genetic diversity for E. lucius is post-glacial radiation from refugia, including lakes from within the un-glaciated portions of eastern Beringia. We report the remains of a Northern pike (E. cf. lucius) skull, including bones, teeth, bone collagen and ancient DNA. The remains were preserved at a depth of between 440 and 446 cm in a 670 cm long core of sediment from Quartz Lake, which initiated at ˜11,200 cal yr BP in interior Alaska. A calibrated accelerator mass spectrometer (AMS) radiocarbon age of the collagen extracted from the preserved bones indicated that the organism was dated to 8820 cal yr BP and is bracketed by AMS values from analyses of terrestrial plant macrofossils, avoiding any potential aquatic reservoir effect that could have influenced the radiocarbon age of the bones. Scanning electron microscope images of the specimen show the hinged tooth anatomy typically of E. lucius. Molar C:N (3.5, 1σ = 0.1) value of the collagen from the specimen indicated well-preserved collagen and its mean stable nitrogen isotope value is consistent with the known predatory feeding ecology of E. lucius. Ancient DNA in the bones showed that the specimen was identical to modern E. lucius. Our record of E. lucius from interior Alaska is consistent with a biogeographic scenario involving rapid dispersal of this species from glacialrefugia in the northern hemisphere after the last glaciation.

The Irish Sea (right) is full of phytoplankton in this true-color image from January 15, 2002. The Irish Sea separates Ireland (center) from the United Kingdom (right). In this image the water of both the Irish and Celtic (lower right) Seas appears quite turbid, being a milky blue-green compared to the clearer waters of the open Atlantic (left). This milky appearance is likely due to the growth of marine plants called phytoplankton. Despite the fact that Ireland is at the same latitude as southern Hudson Bay, Canada, it remains green year round, thanks to the moderating effect on temperatures of the Atlantic Ocean. The Gulf Stream bring warmer waters up from the tropics, and southwesterly winds bring warmer air to the country, thus moderating seasonal temperature extremes.

Although an African origin of the modern human species is generally accepted, the evolutionary processes involved in the speciation, geographical spread, and eventual extinction of archaic humans outside of Africa are much debated. An additional complexity has been the recent evidence of limited interbreeding between modern humans and the Neandertals and Denisovans. Modern human migrations and interactions began during the buildup to the Last Glacial Maximum, starting about 100,000 years ago. By examining the history of other organisms through glacial cycles, valuable models for evolutionary biogeography can be formulated. According to one such model, the adoption of a new refugium by a subgroup of a species may lead to important evolutionary changes. PMID:22422974

The life history characteristics of some elasmobranchs make them particularly vulnerable to fishing mortality; about a third of all species are listed by the IUCN as Threatened or Near Threatened. Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) have been suggested as a tool for conservation of elasmobranchs, but they are likely to be effective only if such populations respond to fishing impacts at spatial-scales corresponding to MPA size. Using the example of the Celtic Sea, we modelled elasmobranch biomass (kg h(-1)) in fisheries-independent survey hauls as a function of environmental variables and 'local' (within 20 km radius) fishing effort (h y(-1)) recorded from Vessel Monitoring Systems data. Model selection using AIC suggested strongest support for linear mixed effects models in which the variables (i) fishing effort, (ii) geographic location and (iii) demersal fish assemblage had approximately equal importance in explaining elasmobranch biomass. In the eastern Celtic Sea, sampling sites that occurred in the lowest 10% of the observed fishing effort range recorded 10 species of elasmobranch including the critically endangered Dipturus spp. The most intensely fished 10% of sites had only three elasmobranch species, with two IUCN listed as Least Concern. Our results suggest that stable spatial heterogeneity in fishing effort creates de facto refugia for elasmobranchs in the Celtic Sea. However, changes in the present fisheries management regime could impair the refuge effect by changing fisher's behaviour and displacing effort into these areas. PMID:23166635

Drought and summer drying can be important disturbance events in many small streams leading to intermittent or isolated habitats. We examined the influence of stream permanence on fish and crayfish population and community dynamics in multiple streams over several years. We found total crayfish densities and densities of some crayfish species were significantly greater in intermittent than in permanent streams, whereas crayfish species richness did not differ significantly between the two stream types. There was a significant relationship between crayfish relative abundance and abiotic environmental variables for permanent, but not intermittent streams. Fish densities were high in intermittent streams, especially for small species-size classes. Fish moved at large spatial and temporal scales to use intermittent streams, especially for spawning, and fish moved at smaller spatial and temporal scales to avoid drying habitats, especially riffles. During drying events fish survival was greater in pools than in riffles, and pools were more likely to remain permanent habitats. Intermittent streams and permanent pools within dry portions of stream appear to function as refugia for some species and size classes of fish and crayfish. Understanding this relationship will allow natural resource managers to implement effective conservation strategies for fish and crayfish in intermittent streams.

Coral bleaching and mortality are predicted to increase as climate change-induced thermal-stress events become more frequent. Although many studies document coral bleaching and mortality patterns, few studies have examined deviations from the expected positive relationships among thermal stress, coral bleaching, and coral mortality. This study examined the response of >30,000 coral colonies at 80 sites in Palau, during a regional thermal-stress event in 2010. We sought to determine the spatial and taxonomic nature of bleaching and examine whether any habitats were comparatively resistant to thermal stress. Bleaching was most severe in the northwestern lagoon, in accordance with satellite-derived maximum temperatures and anomalous temperatures above the long-term averages. Pocillopora populations suffered the most extensive bleaching and the highest mortality. However, in the bays where temperatures were higher than elsewhere, bleaching and mortality were low. The coral-community composition, constant exposure to high temperatures, and high vertical attenuation of light caused by naturally high suspended particulate matter buffered the corals in bays from the 2010 regional thermal-stress event. Yet, nearshore reefs are also most vulnerable to land-use change. Therefore, nearshore reefs should be given high conservation status because they provide refugia for coral populations as the oceans continue to warm. PMID:23145333

The refugial speciation model, or ‘species pump’, is widely accepted in the context of tropical biogeography and has been advocated as an explanation for present species distributions in tropical Western and Central Africa. In order to test this hypothesis, a phylogeny of the cryptic arachnid order Ricinulei, based on four nuclear and mitochondrial DNA markers, was inferred. This ancient clade of litter-dwelling arthropods, endemic to the primary forests of Western and Central Africa and the Neotropics, might provide insights into the mode and tempo of evolution in Africa. Twenty-six African ricinuleid specimens were sampled from eight countries spanning the distribution of Ricinulei on the continent, and analysed together with Neotropical samples plus other arachnid outgroups. The phylogenetic and molecular dating results suggest that Ricinulei diversified in association with the fragmentation of Gondwana. The early diversification of Ricinoides in Western and Central Africa around 88 (±33) Ma fits old palaeogeographical events better than recent climatic fluctuations. Unlike most recent molecular studies, these results agree with fossil evidence, suggesting that refugia may have acted as ‘museums’ conserving ancient diversity rather than as engines generating diversity during successive episodes of climatic fluctuation in Africa. PMID:23193047

Coral bleaching and mortality are predicted to increase as climate change-induced thermal-stress events become more frequent. Although many studies document coral bleaching and mortality patterns, few studies have examined deviations from the expected positive relationships among thermal stress, coral bleaching, and coral mortality. This study examined the response of >30,000 coral colonies at 80 sites in Palau, during a regional thermal-stress event in 2010. We sought to determine the spatial and taxonomic nature of bleaching and examine whether any habitats were comparatively resistant to thermal stress. Bleaching was most severe in the northwestern lagoon, in accordance with satellite-derived maximum temperatures and anomalous temperatures above the long-term averages. Pocillopora populations suffered the most extensive bleaching and the highest mortality. However, in the bays where temperatures were higher than elsewhere, bleaching and mortality were low. The coral-community composition, constant exposure to high temperatures, and high vertical attenuation of light caused by naturally high suspended particulate matter buffered the corals in bays from the 2010 regional thermal-stress event. Yet, nearshore reefs are also most vulnerable to land-use change. Therefore, nearshore reefs should be given high conservation status because they provide refugia for coral populations as the oceans continue to warm. PMID:23145333

Classic marine ecological paradigms view kelp forests as inherently temperate-boreal phenomena replaced by coral reefs in tropical waters. These paradigms hinge on the notion that tropical surface waters are too warm and nutrient-depleted to support kelp productivity and survival. We present a synthetic oceanographic and ecophysiological model that accurately identifies all known kelp populations and, by using the same criteria, predicts the existence of >23,500 km(2) unexplored submerged (30- to 200-m depth) tropical kelp habitats. Predicted tropical kelp habitats were most probable in regions where bathymetry and upwelling resulted in mixed-layer shoaling above the depth of minimum annual irradiance dose for kelp survival. Using model predictions, we discovered extensive new deep-water Eisenia galapagensis populations in the Galápagos that increased in abundance with increasing depth to >60 m, complete with cold-water flora and fauna of temperate affinities. The predictability of deep-water kelp habitat and the discovery of expansive deep-water Galápagos kelp forests validate the extent of deep-water tropical kelp refugia, with potential implications for regional productivity and biodiversity, tropical food web ecology, and understanding of the resilience of tropical marine systems to climate change. PMID:17913882

The peat-fueled, 100-MW Lough Ree power station in the midlands of Ireland marks the beginning of a new era of electricity generation by the Electricity Supply Board. 30% more efficient than the old peat-fired power plant it replaced, Lough Ree uses a circulating fluidized bed boiler from Foster Wheeler to meet very strict air-emissions standards while exploiting an indigenous energy source. 3 figs., 2 tabs.

Our objective was to estimate the burden of fungal disease on the island of Ireland, as part of a coordinated project estimating the global burden. Published epidemiology data describing fungal infection in Ireland were identified. Population and underlying disease data were collected for 2010 and a structured set of assumptions were applied to estimate burden of fungal disease based on immunosuppression, chronic disease, and other demographic information indicating predisposition to fungal infection. From Ireland's population of 6.4 million, we estimate 117, 000 patients develop significant fungal disease each year. By far the most common fungal disease is recurrent Candida vaginitis, with an estimated 95, 000 episodes annually (3000 per 100 000 women). Other fungal diseases which may be less well recognized are severe asthma with fungal sensitization and allergic bronchopulmonary aspergillosis, with estimated episodes per year of 11, 700 and 9000, respectively (182 and 140 per 100, 000 population, respectively). The model also estimates 450 episodes of invasive aspergillosis, 200 of chronic pulmonary aspergillosis, 600 of oesophageal candidiasis and 450 of candidaemia per year (7, 3, 9 and 6 episodes per 100, 000 population, respectively). This is, we believe, the first attempt to estimate the burden of fungal disease in our population and provides a basis for estimating its impact on human health and resource use. PMID:25596121

At least 15 floods ascended the Sanpoil arm of glacial Lake Columbia during a single glaciation. Varves between 14 of the flood beds indicate one backflooding every 35 to 55 yr. This regularity suggests that the floods came from an ice-dammed lake that was self-dumping, probably glacial Lake Missoula, Montana. -from Author

Pollen assemblages from Howard Valley, South Island, New Zealand, were used to reconstruct the palaeovegetation and infer past climate during the period ca 38-21 cal. ka, which encompasses the Marine Isotope Stage (MIS) 3/2 transition and Last Glacial Cold Period (LGCP). A glacier occupied the upper Howard Valley during the Last Glacial, whilst extensive glaciofluvial outwash surfaces were constructed in the lower valley. Episodic periods of fluvial aggradation and incision have produced a complex sequence of terraces flanking the main Howard River and its tributaries. Sedimentary sequences from three exposed valley fills, sampled for palynological analysis and radiocarbon dating, consist of a complex vertical and lateral arrangement of coarse textured cobbly sandy gravels interbedded with organic-rich silt deposits. Palynology of these organic-rich horizons was directly compared to an existing beetle record from these same horizons. During late MIS 3 the site was dominated by marshy shrubland vegetation interspersed with mixed beech forest, indicating temperatures ˜2-3 °C cooler than present. Climate cooling began as early as 35.7 cal. ka and coincides with evidence of cooling from other sites in New Zealand, South America and with an Antarctic cooling signature. A three phase vegetation and inferred climate pattern occurs at the site during the LGCP beginning with a transition to an alpine/sub-alpine grassland comparable to communities growing near treeline today marking the change to glacial conditions before 31 cal. ka. A small increase in tree abundance between ca 25.8 and 22.7 cal. ka suggests minor climate amelioration during the mid-LGCP. During this phase, a possible volcanically induced vegetation disruption caused by the deposition of the Kawakawa Tephra at 25 cal. ka is evident in the pollen record. This is followed by a further decline in tree pollen and increase in alpine grassland and herb pollen indicating further deterioration of conditions and a

Plants respond to Pleistocene climatic change as species, not as associations or biomes. This has been demonstrated unequivocally by paleobotanical data for temperate latitudes. In the far richer vegetations of the tropics species populations also fluctuated independently in response to climatic forcing, from their longlasting glacial states to the patterns of brief interglacials like the present and back again. We use pollen data to reconstruct the vegetation of the Amazon basin in oxygen isotope stages 3 and 2 of the last glaciation in order to measure how the plant populations of the Amazon responded to the global warming at the onset of the Holocene. We find that plant communities of the neotropics vent copious pollen to lake sediments and that this pollen yields powerful signals for community composition. Three continuous sedimentary records reaching through oxygen isotope stage 2 are available from the Amazon lowlands, those from Carajas, Lake Pata and marine deposits off the mouth of the Amazon River. All three records yield pollen histories of remarkable constancy and stability. By comparing them with deposits of equal antiquity from the cerrado (savanna) of central Brazil, we show that most of the Amazon lowlands remained under forest throughout a glacial cycle. This forest was never fragmented by open vegetation as postulated by the refugia hypothesis. Instead the intact forest of glacial times included significant populations of plants that are now montane, suggesting that the global warming of the early Holocene resulted in the expulsion of heat intolerant plants from the lowland forest. Pollen data from the Amazonian flank of the Andes and from Pacific Panama provide evidence that populations of these heat intolerant plants survive the heat of interglacials in part by maintaining large populations at cooler montane altitudes. Our conclusion that the Amazon lowlands were forested in glacial times specifically refutes the hypothesis of Amazonian glacial

Deciphering the timing and the inter-hemispheric phasing of former glacial fluctuations is critical for understanding the mechanisms and climate signals underlying these glacial events. Here, we present a detailed chronology of glacial fluctuations for Río Tranquilo glacier (47°S), since the LGM, including up to the present. Río Tranquilo is a small glacial valley located on the northern flank of Monte San Lorenzo, an isolated granitic massif, ~70 km to the east of the southern limit of the Northern Patagonian Icefield. Although Mt. San Lorenzo is located on the leeward side of the Andes, it is one of the most glacierized mountains in the region, with an ice surface area of ~140 km2. Geomorphic evidence suggests that during past episodes of climate change several small glaciers that today occupy the headwalls of Río Tranquilo valley expanded and coalesced, depositing a series of moraines complexes along the flanks and bottom of the valley. We used two independent dating techniques to constrain the age of the glacial history of the area. 10Be surface exposure ages from boulders located atop moraine ridges reveal that Río Tranquilo valley underwent glacial expansion/stabilization during at least the LGM (late LGM?), Late glacial (ACR and Younger Dryas) and Mid-Holocene. Within the Mid-Holocene limits, tree-ring based chronology indicates that Río Tranquilo glacier expanded during the Late Holocene as well. Our results are the first detailed chronology of glacial fluctuations from a single valley glacier, spanning the entire period from the (end of the) LGM up to the present, in southern South America. By identifying different glacial episodes within a single alpine valley, this study provides baseline data for studying the relative magnitude of the climate events responsible for these glacial events.

southwestern U.S. (including all southwestern U.S. diploids and polyploids). In addition, tetraploid Opuntia humifusa s.l., which occurs primarily in the eastern U.S., is resolved in the southwestern diploid clade instead of with the southeastern diploid clade that includes diploid Opuntia humifusa s.l. Our results not only provide evidence for the polyphyletic nature of Opuntia humifusa and Opuntia macrorhiza, suggesting that each of these represents more than one species, but also demonstrate the high frequency of polyploidy in the Humifusa clade and the major role that genome duplication has played in the diversification of this lineage of Opuntia s.s. Our data also suggest that the southeastern and southwestern U.S. may represent glacialrefugia for diploid members of this clade and that the clade as a whole should be considered a mature polyploid species complex. Widespread polyploids are likely derivatives of secondary contact among southeastern and southwestern diploid taxa as a result of the expansion and contraction of suitable habitat during the Pleistocene following glacial and interglacial events. PMID:24260652

The conterminous United States contains an extensive and generally well-studied record of Last Glacial loess. The loess occurs in diverse physiographic provinces, and under a wide range of climatic and ecological conditions. Both glacial and non-glacia lloess sources are present, and many properties of the loess vary systematically with distance from loess sources. United States' mid-continent Last Glacial loess is probably the thickest in the world, and our calculated mass accumulation rates (MARs) are as high as 17,500 g/m2/yr at the Bignell Hill locality in Nebraska, and many near-source localities have MARs greater than 1500 g/m2/yr. These MARs are high relative to rates calculated in other loess provinces around the world. Recent models of LastGlacial dust sources fail to predict the extent and magnitude of dust flux from the mid-continent of the United States. A better understanding of linkages between climate, ice sheet behaviour, routing of glacial meltwater, land surface processes beyond the ice margin, and vegetation is needed to improve the predictive capabilities of models simulating dust flux from this region.

Vegetation and climate during the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) were considerably different than during the current interglacial (Holocene). In Europe large areas north of 40°N were entirely covered by continental ice-sheets and widespread permafrost, with temperatures around 10-20°C lower than at present, whereas further south aridity and temperatures 7-10°C cooler than today occurred. Cool climatic conditions and growing ice-sheets during the LGM radically reduced forest extent and diversity in Europe to a restricted number of so-called "refugia", mostly located in the southern part of the continent. The Euganian Hills in northeastern Italy are supposed to be one of the northernmost refugia of thermophilous mixed oak forest species (e.g. deciduous Quercus, Tilia, Ulmus, Fraxinus excelsior, Acer, Carpinus, Castanea) as well of some temperate mesophilous species (e.g. Fagus sylvatica, Abies alba) in Europe. In this study we present the first European chironomid-based quantitative temperature reconstruction for the LGM and address the question whether climate conditions were warm enough to permit the local survival of Quercetum mixtum species between ca. 31'000-17'000 cal yr BP. Chironomids preserved in a lake sediment core from Lago della Costa (7m a.s.l.), a lake on the border of the Euganean Hills in northeastern Italy, allowed quantitative reconstruction of Full and Late Glacial July air temperatures using a combined Swiss-Norwegian temperature inference model based on chironomid assemblages from 274 lakes. Our results suggest that July air temperatures never fell below 10°C which are considered necessary for forest growth. In general, mild climatic conditions prevailed between ca. 31'000-17'000 cal yr BP with temperatures ranging from ca. 11°C to 15.7°C. The expansion of thermophilous trees such as Quercus, Tilia, Ulmus, Fraxinus excelsior, Acer, Carpinus, Castanea (Quercetum mixtum) between ca. 30'000-23'000 cal yr BP can most likely be explained by climate

Countries with similar levels of economic development often implement different education ICT policies. Much of the existing research attributes such differences to economic and political factors. In this paper, we examine the development of ICT policy and implementation in the two parts of Ireland and in two Canadian provinces and find that…

Suicides in Northern Ireland are examined in the context of what is known about global and regional trends with respect to gender and age, and change over time. For Northern Ireland, suicide numbers and rates are plotted for 10-24 year olds from 1967 to 2005. Questions are raised about the validity of officially registered suicides in the light of…

In Ireland, historically and in the current era, family has been a central concern for society and the State. This article provides a descriptive overview of family life in Ireland and of major family-related changes over the past 40 years. It presents a general framework of analysis within which these changes can be understood, considers the…

There has been much debate in recent years about the future of primary language teaching in England, Scotland and Wales but relatively little discussion about the situation in Northern Ireland. This paper seeks to set the policy context in Northern Ireland where the provision for primary languages lags behind other regions of the United Kingdom…

An examination of service delivery in early childhood education in Ireland reveals that the lack of a national policy has led to a great variation in services, little possibility for assessing and regulating quality, and a very limited choice for many children and their families. This article describes Ireland's system for early education…

Purpose: Aims to examine trends in the development of e-learning in Northern Ireland, report on existing policies, practices and issues affecting its implementation across the sectors. Design/methodology/approach: The present study draws on e-learning policies and strategies that have been developed for Northern Ireland. Examples were drawn from…

This paper presents, for the first time, comprehensive measures of geographic accessibility to higher education both within and between the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. Using geographic information system techniques, we find high levels of geographic accessibility to higher education in both jurisdictions. However, when we…

This paper describes and discusses the role of practical work in science education in Ireland. The 2002 report of a government Task Force on the Physical Sciences, set up to consider the problems facing the teaching of the physical sciences in second-level schools in Ireland, has resulted in rapid reform of the science curriculum at both junior…

Pleistocene glaciations were important determinants of historical migration and, hence, current levels of genetic diversity within and among populations. In many cases, these historical migrations led to the existence of disjunct populations of plants and animals. However, the origin and timing of arrival of these disjunct populations is often debated. In the current study, we identify potential refugia and estimate the timing of vicariance events of the eastern tiger salamander, Ambystoma tigrinum tigrinum, using mitochondrial sequence data. The results suggest a vicariant event 0.75-2 million years ago, separating the tiger salamanders to the east and west of the Apalachicola River Basin. East of the Appalachians, there appear to be multiple independent refugia with little migration among the remaining populations. In particular, populations along the Atlantic Coastal Plain were likely isolated in a coastal plain refugium in the Carolinas. Migrants from this refugium were the likely source of colonists for populations occupying previously glaciated areas along the northeastern Atlantic Coast. A second potential refugium occurs in the Blue Ridge Mountains of western Virginia. This refugium contains a disjunct population of the eastern tiger salamander, as well as a community of nearly 70 other disjunct plant and animal species. The tiger salamanders here have been isolated from other populations for 200,000-500,000 years. These results suggest that disjunct mountain populations of Coastal Plain species may have existed in situ throughout the Pleistocene in Appalachian refugia. Therefore, these disjunct populations are not of recent origin, but rather exist as relicts of a warmer, more widespread fauna and flora that is now restricted to the Coastal Plain. PMID:12683533

The Iveragh Peninsula, one of the four peninsulas in southwestern Ireland, is shown in this spaceborne radar image. The lakes of Killarney National Park are the green patches on the left side of the image. The mountains to the right of the lakes include the highest peaks (1,036 meters or 3,400 feet) in Ireland. The patchwork patterns between the mountains are areas of farming and grazing. The delicate patterns in the water are caused by refraction of ocean waves around the peninsula edges and islands, including Skellig Rocks at the right edge of the image. The Skelligs are home to a 15th century monastery and flocks of puffins. The region is part of County Kerry and includes a road called the 'Ring of Kerry' that is one of the most famous tourist routes in Ireland. This image was acquired by the Spaceborne Imaging Radar-C/X-band Synthetic Aperture Radar (SIR-C/X-SAR) onboard the Space Shuttle Endeavour on April 12, 1994. The image is 82 kilometers by 42 kilometers (51 miles by 26 miles) and is centered at 52.0 degrees north latitude, 9.9 degrees west longitude. North is toward the lower left. The colors are assigned to different radar frequencies and polarizations of the radar as follows: red is L-band, horizontally transmitted and received; green is L-band, vertically transmitted and received; and blue is C-band, vertically transmitted and received. SIR-C/X-SAR, a joint mission of the German, Italian and United States space agencies, is part of NASA's Mission to Planet Earth program.

With the many changes occurring in Ireland it would seem an opportune time to review the body of research conducted and policy enacted in the Republic of Ireland on oral health services and oral health. The dental health of the nation prior to water fluoridation, the legislation and policy decisions impacting on oral health up to budgetary changes, and the production of evidence-based guidelines will be discussed. The first national survey of dental health was conducted in Ireland in 1952 - 'Dental Caries in Ireland'. In the intervening 60 years, further surveys of the oral health of people in Ireland have been carried out. Legislation, surveys and policy documents that have shaped dentistry and the oral health of the population are set out in Tables 1 and 2. A more comprehensive description of the policies can be found in the thesis submitted in fulfilment of Masters in Dental Public Health (MDPH) by the lead author. PMID:22888574

Background The dynamics of mosquito populations depends on availability of suitable surface water for oviposition. It is well known that suitable management of mosquito larval habitats in the sub-Saharan countries, particularly during droughts, could help to suppress vector densities and malaria transmission. We conducted a field survey to investigate the spatial and seasonal distribution of mosquito larval habitats and identify drought-refugia for anopheline larvae. Methods A GIS approach was used to identify, geo-reference and follow up longitudinally from May 2012 to May 2013, all mosquito breeding sites in two rural sites (Yondarou and Thui), one urban (Kossarou), and one peri-urban (Pèdè) site at Kandi, a municipality in northeastern Benin. In Kandi, droughts are excessive with no rain for nearly six months and a lot of sunshine. A comprehensive record of mosquito larval habitats was conducted periodically in all sites for the identification of drought-refugia of anopheline larval stages. With geospatialisation data, seasonal larval distribution maps were generated for each study site with the software ArcGIS version 10.2. Results Overall, 187 mosquito breeding sites were identified of which 29.95% were recorded during drought. In rural, peri-urban and urban sites, most of the drought-refugia of anopheline larvae were domestic in nature (61.54%). Moreover, in rural settings, anopheline larvae were also sampled in cisterns and wells (25% of larval habitats sampled during drought in Yondarou and 20% in Thui). The mapping showed a significant decrease in the spatial distribution of mosquito larval habitats in rural, peri-urban and urban sites during drought, except in Yondarou (rural) where the aridity did not seem to influence the distribution of larval habitats. Conclusion Our data showed that the main drought-refugia of anopheline larvae were of a domestic nature as well as wells and cisterns. A suitable management of mosquito larvae in sub-Saharan countries

Radon is a naturally occurring radioactive gas which forms as a decay product from uranium. It is the largest source of natural ionizing radiation affecting the global population. When radon is inhaled, its short-lived decay products can interact with lung tissue leading to DNA damage and development of lung cancer. Ireland has among the highest levels of radon in Europe and eighth highest of an OECD survey of 29 countries. Every year some two hundred and fifty cases of lung cancer in Ireland are linked to radon exposure. This new research project will build upon previous efforts of radon monitoring in Ireland to construct a high-resolution radon hazard map. This will be achieved using recently available high-resolution airborne gamma-ray spectrometry (radiometric) and soil geochemistry data (http://www.tellus.ie/), indoor radon concentrations (http://www.epa.ie/radiation), and new direct measurement of soil radon. In this regard, legacy indoor radon concentrations will be correlated with soil U and Th concentrations and other geogenic data. This is a new approach since the vast majority of countries with a national radon monitoring programme rely on indoor radon measurements, or have a spatially limited dataset of soil radon measurements. Careful attention will be given to areas where an indicative high radon hazard based on geogenic factors does not match high indoor radon concentrations. Where such areas exist, it may imply that some parameter(s) in the predictive model does not match that of the environment. These areas will be subjected to measurement of radon soil gas using a combination of time averaged (passive) and time dependant (active) measurements in order to better understand factors affecting production, transport and accumulation of radon in the natural environment. Such mapping of radon-prone areas will ultimately help to inform when prevention and remediation measures are necessary, reducing the radon exposure of the population. Therefore, given

Vast areas previously covered by Pleistocene ice sheets consist of rugged bedrock-dominated terrain of innumerable knolls and lake-filled rock basins - the ‘cnoc-and-lochan' landscape or ‘landscape of areal scour'. These landscapes typically form on gneissose or granitic lithologies and are interpreted (1) either to be the result of strong and widespread glacial erosion over numerous glacial cycles; or (2) formed by stripping of a saprolitic weathering mantle from an older, deeply weathered landscape. We analyse bedrock structure, erosional landforms and weathering remnants and within the ‘cnoc-and-lochan' gneiss terrain of a rough peneplain in NW Scotland and compare this with a geomorphologically similar gneiss terrain in a non-glacial, arid setting (Namaqualand, South Africa). We find that the topography of the gneiss landscapes in NW Scotland and Namaqualand closely follows the old bedrock-saprolite contact (weathering front). The roughness of the weathering front is caused by deep fracture zones providing a highly irregular surface area for weathering to proceed. The weathering front represents a significant change in bedrock physical properties. Glacial erosion (and aeolian erosion in Namaqualand) is an efficient way of stripping saprolite, but is far less effective in eroding hard, unweathered bedrock. Significant glacial erosion of hard gneiss probably only occurs beneath palaeo-ice streams. We conclude that the rough topography of glaciated ‘cnoc-and-lochan' gneiss terrains is formed by a multistage process: 1) Long-term, pre-glacial chemical weathering, forming deep saprolite with an irregular weathering front; 2) Stripping of weak saprolite by glacial erosion during the first glaciation(s), resulting in a rough land surface, broadly conforming to the pre-existing weathering front (‘etch surface'); 3) Further modification of exposed hard bedrock by glacial erosion. In most areas, glacial erosion is limited, but can be significant beneath palaeo

In September 2011, a team of eight students from the University of Göttingen digitally mapped seven 10 km2 adjoining areas on the western tip of the Dingle Peninsular in County Kerry, Ireland for their M.Sc. mapping projects. The students worked in pairs; each pair was equipped with an outdoor, waterproof, drop-proof touchscreen tablet running Windows and Midland Valley Exploration Ltd's Fieldmove software. They also used paper field-notebooks, cameras and hand compasses. The tablets have built-in GPS, two five-hour batteries, and displays that are designed to work even in bright sunlight. In preparation for the fieldwork, the topographic maps of the area (from 1890!) were scanned, geo-rectified and draped onto the DEM of the area using the Midland Valley's Move software. The geology of the Dingle Peninsular is complex; an inlier of Ordovician rocks that were deformed in the Caledonian Orogeny, are surrounded by Devonian Old Red Sandstone (ORS) units, which were syntectonically deposited as the whole area was folded during the Variscan Orogeny. Consequently the ORS units vary in thickness tremendously and facies often vary laterally. The ORS also contains many unconformities. The area is excellently exposed at the coastline, but it is poor inland because of glacial deposits. As a consequent the students required the software to record bedding planes, cleavages, fold axes and unconformities, as well as standard geological information. The work went well, despite the weather (the post tropical cyclone Katia!). It was far quicker to complete the map compared to working on a paper map, after the students had got used to the software and the tablet controls. The GPS in the tablet was deemed to be inaccurate and locations on the map were ascertained using standard techniques. It was also extremely useful to export tectonic data in the evening for stereonet projection analysis. Each 10 km2 area was mapped at 1:10000 in approx. 2 weeks. Because the tablet requires two

This study investigated how young adolescents thought about the location of human rights issues and the nature of violations in differing geographic regions. Open-ended, task-based interviews were conducted with 116 students in Colombia, Northern Ireland, the Republic of Ireland and the United States. Although students in each location pointed to…

Research on language attitudes in the Republic of Ireland has been greatly influenced by stratification theories. That is to say, differences in attitudes are seen to reflect the positions individuals occupy in the social structure. Research on language attitudes in Northern Ireland is less developed, but has tended to view such attitudes as…

Some recent studies have suggested a significant bottom-up or parental component to recent movements for autochthonous minority language-medium education (MLME). This study takes MLME as the outcome of interest and seeks to explain trends in Irish-medium education (IME) in the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland since 1920--a unique…

... 9 Animals and Animal Products 1 2014-01-01 2014-01-01 false Cattle from the Republic of Ireland... Cattle from the Republic of Ireland. (a) All cattle to be imported from the Republic of Ireland shall be... that the cattle originated from a herd which is officially certified by the Republic of Ireland as...

Describes the creation of a glacial park on a university campus. Suggests that the park is a useful instructional resource that helps students relate classroom material to outdoor phenomena by visualizing and identifying glacial landforms, recognizing their spatial relationships, and understanding how glacial features originated. Offers advice for…

It is widely believed that Sir William Wilde's forebears were in Ireland for just two or three generations. This belief stems from a number of short biographies of Wilde which were published during his lifetime. These biographies gave different versions of the origin of the Wilde family and appear to have been generated by the creative imagination of Lady Jane Wilde or, as she was better known by her nom de plume, Speranza. She was equally imaginative in creating narratives about her own family background and in one she claimed descent from the Italian poet Dante Alighieri. So it was not a great challenge for her to invent biographies of her husband which she deemed suitable for a knight living at the prestigious address of 1 Merrion Square, leading many to believe that William and his son Oscar were more English than Irish. It was also important for Speranza to distance Sir William from any connection which the Wilde family might have had with trade. In this paper published and unpublished material are used, together with a careful examination of family deeds in the Registry of Deeds office, to elucidate the real roots of the Wilde family in Dublin and in the West of Ireland. PMID:27083456

While the slopes of the present-day Colorado Rocky Mountains are characterized by large stands of subalpine and montane conifers, the Rockies of the late glacial looked dramatically different. Specifically, pollen records suggest that during the late glacial, Artemisia and Gramineae predominated throughout the mountains of Colorado. At some point between 11,000 and 10,000 B.P., however, both Artemisia and grasses underwent a dramatic decline, which can be identified in virtually every pollen diagram produced for Colorado mountain sites, including Como Lake (Sangre de Cristo Mountains), Copley Lake and Splains; Gulch (near Crested Butte), Molas Lake (San Juan Mountains), and Redrock Lake (Boulder County). Moreover, the same pattern seems to hold for pollen spectra derived for areas adjacent to Colorado, including at sites in the Chuska Mountains of New Mexico and in eastern Wyoming. The implications of this consistent finding are compelling. The closest modem analogues to the Artemisia- and Gramineae-dominated late-glacial Colorado Rockies are found in the relatively arid northern Great Basin, which suggests that annual precipitation was much lower in the late-glacial southern Rocky Mountains than it was throughout the Holocene.

Glacial lakes are potentially dangerous sources of glacial lake outburst floods (GLOFs), and represent a serious natural hazard in Himalayan countries. Despite the development of various indices aimed at determining the risk of such flooding, an objective evaluation of the thousands of Himalayan glacial lakes has yet to be completed. In this study we propose a single index, based on the depression angle from the lakeshore, which allows the lakes to be assessed using remotely sensed digital elevation models (DEMs). We test our approach on five lakes in Nepal, Bhutan, and Tibet using images taken by the declassified Hexagon KH-9 satellite before these lakes flooded. All five lakes had a steep lakefront area (SLA), on which a depression angle was steeper than our proposed threshold of 10° before the GLOF event, but the SLA was no longer evident after the events. We further calculated the potential flood volume (PFV); i.e. the maximum volume of floodwater that could be released if the lake surface was lowered sufficiently to eradicate the SLA. This approach guarantees repeatability because it requires no particular expertise to carry out. We calculated PFVs for more than 2000 Himalayan glacial lakes using the ASTER data. The distribution follows a power-law function, and we identified 49 lakes with PFVs of over 10 million m3 that require further detailed field investigations.

Glaciations have occurred episodically at different time intervals and for different durations in Earth's history. Ice covers have formed in a wide range of plate tectonic and structural settings but the bulk of Earth's glacial record can be shown to have been deposited and preserved in basins within extensional settings. In such basins, source area uplift and basin subsidence fulfill the tectonic preconditions for the initiation of glaciation and the accomodation and preservation of glaciclastic sediments. Tectonic setting, in particular subsidence rates, also dictates the type of glaciclastic facies and facies successions that are deposited. Many pre-Pleistocene glaciated basins commonly contain well-defined tectonostratigraphic successions recording the interplay of tectonics and sedimentation; traditional climatostratigraphic approaches involving interpretation in terms of either ice advance/retreat cycles or glacio-eustatic sea-level change require revision. The direct record of continental glaciation in Earth history, in the form of classically-recognised continental glacial landforms and "tillites", is meagre; it is probable that more than 95% of the volume of preserved "glacial" strata are glacially-influenced marine deposits that record delivery of large amounts of glaciclastic sediment to offshore basins. This flux has been partially or completely reworked by "normal" sedimentary processes such that the record of glaciation and climate change is recorded in marine successions and is difficult to decipher. The dominant "glacial" facies in the rock record are subaqueous debris flow diamictites and turbidites recording the selective preservation of poorly-sorted glaciclastic sediment deposited in deep water basins by sediment gravity flows. However, these facies are also typical of many non-glacial settings, especially volcanically-influenced environments; numerous Archean and Proterozoic diamictites, described in the older literature as tillites, have no

Multibeam swath bathymetry data collected through the Irish National Seabed Survey provides direct evidence for extensive glaciation of the continental shelf off northwest Ireland. Streamlined subglacial bedforms on the inner shelf record former offshore-directed ice flow. The major glacial features, however, consist of well developed, nested arcuate moraines which mark the position of former ice sheet margins on the shelf. Distal to these moraines, on the outermost shelf, prominent zones of iceberg ploughmarks give way into a well developed system of gullies and canyons which incise the continental slope. The large-scale, nested, arcuate moraines record the episodic retreat, probably punctuated by minor readvances or oscillations, of a lobate grounded ice sheet across this sector of the continental shelf during deglaciation. Initial retreat from the outer shelf was associated with an episode of ice sheet break-up and calving as recorded by extensive zones of iceberg ploughmarks distal to the outermost moraine. It is conceivable that this initial phase of retreat could have been driven by rising sea level. The data indicate a major reorganisation of the Irish Ice Sheet on the northwest shelf during deglaciation; an initial elongate ice sheet configuration extending along the shelf edge changed to a pronounced lobate form during retreat. Consideration of dated, marine stratigraphic records from the wider northwest margin suggests that ice sheet advance to the shelf edge likely occurred at about 29-27 cal ka BP, but that retreat from this shelf edge position did not take place until after 24 cal ka BP. Large-scale contrasts in continental margin morphology west of Ireland, from trough mouth fans in the north to gully/canyon systems further to south, reflects a combination of factors including spatial variations in sediment flux related to palaeo-glaciology.

The marine limit in Maine marks a sea-level highstand at approximately 13 ka. It was inferred to cross Sebago Lake near Frye Island by Thompson and Borns (1985) on the Surficial Geological Map of Maine, dividing the lake into a northern glacial-lacustrine basin and a southern glacial-marine basin. This study examined the accuracy of the mapped marine limit in the lake and the nature of glacial-lacustrine and glacial-marine facies in Maine. Recognition of the marine limit is usually based on mapped shorelines, glacial-marine deltas, and contacts with glacial-marine sediments. This study, in Maine's second largest lake, collected 100 kilometers of side-scan sonar images, 100 kilometers of seismic reflection profiles, and one core. Side-scan sonar records show coarse sand and gravel and extensive boulder fields at an inferred grounding-line position near Frye Island, where the marine limit was drawn. ORE Geopulse seismic reflection profiles reveal a basal draping unit similar to glacial-marine units identified offshore. Later channels cut more than 30 m into the basal stratified unit. In addition, till and a possible glacial-tectonic grounding-line feature were identified. Slumps and possible spring disruptions are found in several locations. The top unit is an onlapping ponded Holocene lacustrine unit. Total sediment is much thicker in the southern basin; the northern basin, >97 m deep, north of the marine limit appears to have been occupied by an ice block. Retrieved sediments include 12 meters of rhythmites. Microfossil identifications and dating will resolve the environments and time of deposition in this core.

As glacier ice gives way to successional vegetation, streams located in glacier-containing watersheds receive decreased contributions from glacial meltwater and increased contributions from terrestrial landscapes. These changes result in increased water temperature, increased shading from vegetation, and changes in the composition and concentration of organic matter delivered to the stream from the landscape. Organic matter and source water contributions from the surrounding landscape can influence in-stream metabolism through both biotic and abiotic factors. The impact of these landscape controls on the in-stream cycling of carbon and nutrients is not well understood in glacial systems. Here, we are focusing on understanding the differences in processing of organic carbon by heterotrophic microbial communities between glacial and non-glacial streams. In this study, the metabolism in streams receiving glacial meltwater was compared to the metabolism of streams located in nearby non-glaciated watersheds to determine the effect of changing inputs of glacial meltwater on stream metabolism. In particular, we tested the hypothesis that decreased inputs of glacier meltwater will result in increased net ecosystem metabolism (NEM) in coastal streams in southeast Alaska. Dissolved oxygen and carbon dioxide measurements as well as temperature and PAR values were collected at 10-minute increments at each study site for 4 days. This data was used to generate diel curves to establish community respiration (CR24) and gross primary production (GPP) estimates. Lab-scale mesocosms containing sediment and stream water from each end-member stream were used to quantify the relative importance of glacial contributions to respiration rates in the surface sediments. Ultimately, this will provide a better understanding of the changing in-stream processing capabilities in watersheds affected by land cover changes resulting from glacial recession.

Some of the effects of past climate dynamics on plant and animal diversity make-up have been relatively well studied, but to less extent in fungi. Pleistocene refugia are thought to harbour high biological diversity (i.e. phylogenetic lineages and genetic diversity), mainly as a product of increased reproductive isolation and allele conservation. In addition, high extinction rates and genetic erosion are expected in previously glaciated regions. Some of the consequences of past climate dynamics might involve changes in range and population size that can result in divergence and incipient or cryptic speciation. Many of these dynamic processes and patterns can be inferred through phylogenetic and coalescent methods. In this study, we first delimit species within a group of closely related edible ectomycorrhizal Amanita from North America (the American Caesar's mushrooms species complex) using multilocus coalescent-based approaches; and then address questions related to effects of Pleistocene climate change on the diversity and genetics of the group. Our study includes extensive geographical sampling throughout the distribution range, and DNA sequences from three nuclear protein-coding genes. Results reveal cryptic diversity and high speciation rates in refugia. Population sizes and expansions seem to be larger at midrange latitudes (Mexican highlands and SE USA). Range shifts are proportional to population size expansions, which were overall more common during the Pleistocene. This study documents responses to past climate change in fungi and also highlights the applicability of the multispecies coalescent in comparative phylogeographical analyses and diversity assessments that include ancestral species. PMID:26465233

The green anole lizard (Anolis carolinensis) is a model organism for behavior and genomics that is native to the southeastern United States. It is currently thought that the ancestors of modern green anoles dispersed to peninsular Florida from Cuba. However, the climatic changes and geological features responsible for the early diversification of A. carolinensis in North America have remained largely unexplored. This is because previous studies (1) differ in their estimates of the divergence times of populations, (2) are based on a single genetic locus and (3) did not test specific hypotheses regarding the geologic and topographic history of Florida. Here we provide a multi-locus study of green anole genetic diversity and find that the Florida peninsula contains a larger number of genetically distinct populations that are more diverse than those on the continental mainland. As a test of the island refugia hypothesis in Pleistocene Florida, we use a coalescent approach to estimate the divergence times of modern green anole lineages. We find that all demographic events occurred during or after the Upper Pliocene and suggest that green anole diversification was driven by population divergence on interglacial island refugia in Florida during the Lower Pleistocene, while the region was often separated from continental North America. When Florida reconnected to the mainland, two separate dispersal events led to the expansion of green anole populations across the Atlantic Seaboard and Gulf Coastal Plain. PMID:24379168

Glacial lakes are potentially dangerous sources of glacial lake outburst floods (GLOFs), and represent a serious natural hazard in Himalayan countries. Despite the development of various indices aimed at determining the outburst probability, an objective evaluation of the thousands of Himalayan glacial lakes has yet to be completed. In this study we propose a single index, based on the depression angle from the lakeshore, which allows the lakes to be assessed using remotely sensed digital elevation models (DEMs). We test our approach on five lakes in Nepal, Bhutan, and Tibet using images taken by the declassified Hexagon KH-9 satellite before these lakes experienced an outburst flood. All five lakes had a steep lakefront area (SLA), on which a depression angle was steeper than our proposed threshold of 10° before the GLOF event, but the SLA was no longer evident after the events. We further calculated the potential flood volume (PFV); i.e., the maximum volume of floodwater that could be released if the lake surface was lowered sufficiently to eradicate the SLA. This approach guarantees repeatability to assess the possibility of GLOF hazards because it requires no particular expertise to carry out, though the PFV does not quantify the GLOF risk. We calculated PFVs for more than 2000 Himalayan glacial lakes using visible band images and DEMs of ASTER data. The PFV distribution follows a power-law function. We found that 794 lakes did not have an SLA, and consequently had a PFV of zero, while we also identified 49 lakes with PFVs of over 10 million m3, which is a comparable volume to that of recorded major GLOFs. This PFV approach allows us to preliminarily identify and prioritize those Himalayan glacial lakes that require further detailed investigation on GLOF hazards and risk.

Northern hemisphere rockweeds (Fucus) are thought to have evolved in the North Pacific and then spread to the North Atlantic following the opening of the Bering Strait. They have dispersed and widely speciated in the North Atlantic and its tributary seas. Fucus distichus is likely near the ancestral member of this genus, and studies have shown that there are several species/subspecies in this complex (i.e. F. evanescens and F. gardneri). We used phylogenetic and haplotype analyses to test the phylogenetic relationships and biogeography of F. distichus. Our data and subsequent analyses demonstrate that, unlike previous studies that lacked samples from an extensive geographical area of the Arctic and Subarctic, there is a distinct Arctic haplotype that is the source of subspecies in both the North Pacific and North Atlantic. Fucus distichus occupies a low tide zone habitat, and in Arctic/Subarctic regions it is adapted to the severe stress of sea ice coverage and disturbance during many months per year. We hypothesize that the very large geographic area of Arctic and Subarctic rocky shores available to this species during interglacials, supported by large Arctic/Subarctic fringe areas as well as unglaciated refugia during glacial cycles, provided a robust population and gene pool (described by the Thermogeographic Model). This gene pool dilutes that of the more fragmented and area-limited Temperate/Boreal area populations when they are brought together during glacial cycles. We suggest that similar subspecies complexes for a variety of Arctic/Subarctic shore biota should be examined further in this context, rather than arbitrarily being split up into numerous species. PMID:26630571

Northern hemisphere rockweeds (Fucus) are thought to have evolved in the North Pacific and then spread to the North Atlantic following the opening of the Bering Strait. They have dispersed and widely speciated in the North Atlantic and its tributary seas. Fucus distichus is likely near the ancestral member of this genus, and studies have shown that there are several species/subspecies in this complex (i.e. F. evanescens and F. gardneri). We used phylogenetic and haplotype analyses to test the phylogenetic relationships and biogeography of F. distichus. Our data and subsequent analyses demonstrate that, unlike previous studies that lacked samples from an extensive geographical area of the Arctic and Subarctic, there is a distinct Arctic haplotype that is the source of subspecies in both the North Pacific and North Atlantic. Fucus distichus occupies a low tide zone habitat, and in Arctic/Subarctic regions it is adapted to the severe stress of sea ice coverage and disturbance during many months per year. We hypothesize that the very large geographic area of Arctic and Subarctic rocky shores available to this species during interglacials, supported by large Arctic/Subarctic fringe areas as well as unglaciated refugia during glacial cycles, provided a robust population and gene pool (described by the Thermogeographic Model). This gene pool dilutes that of the more fragmented and area-limited Temperate/Boreal area populations when they are brought together during glacial cycles. We suggest that similar subspecies complexes for a variety of Arctic/Subarctic shore biota should be examined further in this context, rather than arbitrarily being split up into numerous species. PMID:26630571

The last major global revolution of climate was the transition from the last glacial stage to the present interglacial, ca. 25-10 ka. Vegetational belts and mammalian communities underwent major reorganisation. New radiocarbon data show that the complex series of climatic changes affected the ranges of mammalian species dramatically, but in differing ways related to the ecologies of individual species. For species that ultimately went extinct, the reduction in range was a prolonged and geographically complex process taking thousands or tens of thousands of years. Recent genetic studies using ancient DNA show that this process was often accompanied by loss of genetic variation and, presumably, adaptive flexibility. Even so, some species survived for thousands of years in small, terminal refugia before finally becoming extinct - a pattern akin to the 'extinction lag' or 'extinction debt' posited for endangered modern taxa. Whether refugial species can survive to re-expand into new areas, especially in anthropogenically disturbed environments, is determined by a complex of factors and is not inevitable.

Changes in deep ocean ventilation are commonly invoked as the primary cause of lower glacial atmospheric CO2. The water mass structure of the glacial deep Atlantic Ocean and the mechanism by which it may have sequestered carbon remain elusive. Here we present neodymium isotope measurements from cores throughout the Atlantic that reveal glacial-interglacial changes in water mass distributions. These results demonstrate the sustained production of North Atlantic Deep Water under glacial conditions, indicating that southern-sourced waters were not as spatially extensive during the Last Glacial Maximum as previously believed. We demonstrate that the depleted glacial δ13C values in the deep Atlantic Ocean cannot be explained solely by water mass source changes. A greater amount of respired carbon, therefore, must have been stored in the abyssal Atlantic during the Last Glacial Maximum. We infer that this was achieved by a sluggish deep overturning cell, comprised of well-mixed northern- and southern-sourced waters.

Changes in deep ocean ventilation are commonly invoked as the primary cause of lower glacial atmospheric CO2. The water mass structure of the glacial deep Atlantic Ocean and the mechanism by which it may have sequestered carbon remain elusive. Here we present neodymium isotope measurements from cores throughout the Atlantic that reveal glacial-interglacial changes in water mass distributions. These results demonstrate the sustained production of North Atlantic Deep Water under glacial conditions, indicating that southern-sourced waters were not as spatially extensive during the Last Glacial Maximum as previously believed. We demonstrate that the depleted glacial δ(13)C values in the deep Atlantic Ocean cannot be explained solely by water mass source changes. A greater amount of respired carbon, therefore, must have been stored in the abyssal Atlantic during the Last Glacial Maximum. We infer that this was achieved by a sluggish deep overturning cell, comprised of well-mixed northern- and southern-sourced waters. PMID:27256826

Interpretation of digital elevation models (DEMs) is rapidly becoming a valuable extension to field-based geomorphic mapping. High-resolution LiDAR data (Light Detection and Ranging; point spacing 1m, vertical accuracy 0.1m) is ideally-suited for mapping areas of complex and subtle geomorphology, such as fluvial landscapes. This poster outlines how LiDAR data are being used to map and characterise the postglacial fluvial terraces of the lower Boyne valley, Co. Meath, Ireland. Comprehensive mapping, together with longitudinal profiles, demonstrate that the valley contains a suite, or ‘staircase', of six main fluvial terraces, spanning an altitude range of ca. 20m. These terraces represent a chronosequence of ‘palaeo' floodplains, with the highest (T1) being the oldest level, and the lowest (T6) the youngest. The evolution of the valley has thus involved progressive erosion, punctuated by episodes of vertical stability or re-filling. Classified maps of the river terrace sequence indicate that terrace T1 is closely associated with glacial landforms, while T2 exhibits multiple channels with large bar-forms, and could mark a braided river system that conveyed huge water and sediment loads during deglaciation ca. 20-17 ka BP. The ‘modern' floodplain (T6) is ubiquitous, and preliminary field studies have dated two of its palaeochannels to >1,000 cal. BP. The LiDAR based model of geomorphic evolution in the lower Boyne valley is being used to underpin field-based geomorphological and sediment studies, focusing on the acquisition of OSL and radiocarbon dates to secure the timing of river terrace formation and to assess the relationships between fluvial development and environmental change since the Late Glacial period.

A major challenge for Atlantic salmon farming in the northern hemisphere is infestation by the sea louse parasite Lepeophtheirus salmonis. The most frequent method of controlling these sea louse infestations is through the use of chemical treatments. However, most major salmon farming areas have observed resistance to common chemotherapeutants. In terrestrial environments, many strategies employed to manage the evolution of resistance involve the use of refugia, where a portion of the population is left untreated to maintain susceptibility. While refugia have not been deliberately used in Atlantic salmon farming, wild salmon populations that migrate close to salmon farms may act as natural refugia. In this paper we describe an agent-based model that explores the influence of different sizes of wild salmon populations on resistance evolution in sea lice on a salmon farm. Using the model, we demonstrate that wild salmon populations can act as refugia that limit the evolution of resistance in the sea louse populations. Additionally, we demonstrate that an increase in the size of the population of wild salmon results in an increased effect in slowing the evolution of resistance. We explore the effect of a population fitness cost associated with resistance, finding that in some cases it substantially reduces the speed of evolution to chemical treatments. PMID:26485023

A major challenge for Atlantic salmon farming in the northern hemisphere is infestation by the sea louse parasite Lepeophtheirus salmonis. The most frequent method of controlling these sea louse infestations is through the use of chemical treatments. However, most major salmon farming areas have observed resistance to common chemotherapeutants. In terrestrial environments, many strategies employed to manage the evolution of resistance involve the use of refugia, where a portion of the population is left untreated to maintain susceptibility. While refugia have not been deliberately used in Atlantic salmon farming, wild salmon populations that migrate close to salmon farms may act as natural refugia. In this paper we describe an agent-based model that explores the influence of different sizes of wild salmon populations on resistance evolution in sea lice on a salmon farm. Using the model, we demonstrate that wild salmon populations can act as refugia that limit the evolution of resistance in the sea louse populations. Additionally, we demonstrate that an increase in the size of the population of wild salmon results in an increased effect in slowing the evolution of resistance. We explore the effect of a population fitness cost associated with resistance, finding that in some cases it substantially reduces the speed of evolution to chemical treatments. PMID:26485023

The article examines the role of housing supply in ethnic diversity and the residential segregation of Asian, African and eastern European immigrants from Irish nationals in Ireland. Housing supply is defined as the proportions of new housing, private rental accommodation and social housing among all housing units in an electoral district. Multivariate regressions reveal that, among all three housing supply variables, the proportion of private rentals had the largest effect on ethnic diversity and immigrant— Irish segregation. Areas with higher proportions of private rental units were more ethnically diverse, had greater presences of Africans, Asians and eastern Europeans (as opposed to high concentrations of Irish nationals) and exhibited greater integration between each of the three immigrant groups and Irish nationals. The article concludes with a discussion of immigrant assimilation and questions whether the patterns of residential integration observed would further facilitate other forms of social inclusion for immigrants in Irish society. PMID:21114091

Expenditure on healthcare in Ireland, which is mainly derived from taxation, has increased considerably in recent years to an estimated 9.2 billion euro in 2003. Pharmaceuticals account for approximately 10% of total healthcare expenditure. Approximately one-third of patients receive their medications free of charge whilst the remaining two-thirds are subject to a co-payment threshold of 78 euro per month, i.e. 936 euro per year. The price of medications in Ireland is linked to those of five other member states where the price to the wholesaler of any medication will not exceed the lesser of the currency-adjusted wholesale price in the United Kingdom or the average of wholesale prices in Denmark, France, Germany, The Netherlands and the United Kingdom. A price freeze at the introduction price has been in existence since 1993. Despite the price freeze, expenditure on medicines on the community drugs scheme has increased from 201 million euro in 1993 to 898 million euro in 2002. The two main factors contributing to the increased expenditure on medicines include "product mix", the prescribing of new and more expensive medication, and "volume effect" comprising growth in the number of prescription items. Changing demographics and the extension of the General Medical Services (GMS) Scheme to provide free medicines for all those over the age of 70 years have also contributed. Prior to reimbursement under the community drugs schemes, a medicine must be included in the GMS code book or positive list. A demonstration of cost-effectiveness is not a pre-requisite for reimbursement. PMID:15452757

This paper examines some epidemiological factors associated with SIDS to give a general profile of SIDS cases occurring in Ireland between the years 1993 to 1997. There has been a dramatic decrease in the incidence of the Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) in the Republic of Ireland in the last decade from an average rate of 2.2/1000 live-births in the 1980s to 0.8/1000 live-births in the years 1993-1997, a decrease of 100 deaths a year. The fall in the SIDS rate has been seen in many countries and is felt to be associated with Reduce The Risks (RTR) of SIDS campaigns and the avoidance of the prone sleeping position. The use of the prone sleep position averaged at 6% of children being put prone in the years 1993-1997 but the prone position has progressively decreased from 13% of children being put prone in 1994 to only 2% in 1997. The profile of the Irish SIDS cases is similar to that of SIDS cases in other countries following similar RTR campaigns with a male predominance, the characteristic clustering of deaths in the first six months of life and the majority of cases (75%) occuring in the night sleep period. The loss of the seasonal variation of the time of death is also shown and factors such as lower socio-economic status, unemployment and medical card eligibility were seen in higher proportions in SIDS families than in the general population. A high percentage of SIDS mothers smoked (73%). Higher smoking rates were seen among younger and single mothers and smoking rates were inversely related to educational level and socioeconomic grouping. An urgent question that needs to be addressed is how socioeconomic disadvantage increases the SIDS risk and what factors influence socioeconomically disadvantaged families to adopt life style and parenting practices such as smoking that influence their children's health. PMID:11209910

The aim and objective of this study is to examine and compare how schools in Galway, Republic of Ireland and Derry in the North of Ireland (cities located within two independent jurisdictions in Ireland) manage and respond to bereavement. To carry out a survey of schools, the "Loss in Schools" questionnaire is considered the most suitable tool.…

Glacial curvilineations (GCLs) are enigmatic landforms that have recently been discovered in Poland (Lesemann et al., 2010, 2014). They comprise parallel sets of sinuous ridges separated by troughs that are found in tunnel valleys and replicate the morphology and pattern of the valley sides. The sedimentology for some has been reported to indicate that the sediment composition relates to a pre-GCL phase. So far just one theory for their formation exists - erosion by longitudinal-vortices within high-energy subglacial meltwater flows (Lesemann et al., 2010). Here, we provide an alternative hypothesis for their formation developed from observations of GCLs found along the southern sector of the Laurentide Ice Sheet. In all cases GCLs were found associated with tunnel valley widenings or hollows and occur as distinct parallel sets that mimic each other in terms of nicks and cusps. Using analogies from tree-rings and coral growth we take such mimicry as indicating either incremental growth or development from a template over time. Although without a strong physical explanation we find it much less likely that a series of parallel water channels would maintain such strong mimicry. We instead suggest that subglacial thawing of frozen ground in association with discrete water bodies (tunnel valleys or subglacial lakes) resulted in retrogressive bank failure, possibly along a glide plane provided by a frozen surface. References: Lesemann, J.-E., Piotrowski, J. a, Wysota, W., 2010. "Glacial curvilineations": New glacial landforms produced by longitudinal vortices in subglacial meltwater flows. Geomorphology 120, 153-161. Lesemann, J.-E., Piotrowski, J. a, Wysota, W., 2014. Genesis of the "glacial curvilineation" landscape by meltwater processes under the former Scandinavian Ice Sheet, Poland. Sediment. Geol. 312, 1-18.

The current glacier meltdown is increasingly unveiling the glacial bed forms produced by the most recent glacial advance of the 1980ies, such as flutes, mega-flutes and drumlins. This is a challenging opportunity to study these morphologies and the processes involved in their formation; in addition, our observation suggests a new question to be answered: why can't any of these features in units belonging to previous glacial advances be recognised? Similar forms could either have been washed away already, or never been built during LGM and since. The most beautiful and evident of the forms under investigation are the flutes and mega-flutes: elongated streamlined ridges of sediments either starting from an obstacle or just sticking out of the basal lodgement till. The way flutes have been initiated and then evolve is still partially unknown, due to their variety in shape, size and material. The glacial forefield at Findelengletscher under investigation deglaciated over the past two years, offers a well-preserved variety of such forms at all scales. Their material (basal lodgement till) is homogeneous and consistent all over the site, as well as their fabric. In addition, this silty sand shows a low plasticity index. These preliminary results support the idea that flutes build up very quickly during repeated seasonal advances in thin ice conditions with retreating trend (Coray, 2007), and that they could be equally easily and rapidly washed away. References: Coray Sandro (2007): Genesis and significance of flutes at Findelengletscher, Valais, Switzerland, Institute of Geological Sciences, University of Bern.

Most glacial erosion models assume that erosion rates are proportional to ice-sliding velocity. While recent studies have shown that water plays a major role in modulating sliding velocities, the impact it might have on erosion rates is still unclear. Here we incorporate subglacial hydrology into a glacial erosion model that is based on a sliding rule. Our results explicitly highlight that adding subglacial hydrology has profound impacts on the temporal and spatial patterns of glacial erosion. First, it suggests that erosion might mainly occur during melting seasons, when subglacial water pressure is large and effective pressure is low (i.e., before the channels fully develop and reduce the water pressure at the ice bedrock interface), which promotes sliding and erosion. Second, the distribution of erosion is bimodal with a peak at the equilibrium line altitude and, as we demonstrate, enhanced erosion at much lower altitudes within the ablation area where water due to melting abounds. This has important implications because it explains why glacial erosion can simultaneously set a limit on the mean elevation of mountain ranges and carve large fjords or glacial lakes.

The sensitivity of Tibetan glacial systems to North Atlantic climate forcing is a major issue in palaeoclimatology. In this study, we present surface exposure ages of erratic boulders from a valley system in the Hengduan Mountains, southeastern Tibet, showing evidence of an ice advance during Heinrich event 1. Cosmogenic nuclide analyses ( 10Be and 21Ne) revealed consistent exposure ages, indicating no major periods of burial or pre-exposure. Erosion-corrected (3 mm/ka) 10Be exposure ages range from 13.4 to 16.3 ka. This is in agreement with recalculated exposure ages from the same valley system by [Tschudi, S., Schäfer, J.M., Zhao, Z., Wu, X., Ivy-Ochs, S., Kubik, P.W., Schlüchter, C., 2003. Glacial advances in Tibet during the Younger Dryas? Evidence from cosmogenic 10Be, 26Al, and 21Ne. Journal of Asian Earth Sciences 22, 301-306.]. Thus this indicates that local glaciers advanced in the investigated area as a response to Heinrich event 1 cooling and that periglacial surface adjustments during the Younger Dryas overprinted the glacial morphology, leading to deceptively young exposure ages of certain erratic boulders.

It is thought that glaciers erode their underlying bedrock mainly through abrasion and quarrying. Theories predict erosion to be proportional to ice-sliding velocity raised to some power: ˙e = Kguls (1) where ė is the erosion rate, and Kg a proportionality constant and l an exponent. By implementing such a rule in numerical models, it has been possible to reproduce typical glacial landscape features, such as U-shape valleys, hanging valleys, glacial cirques or fjords. Although there have been great advances in the level of sophistication of these models, for example through the inclusion of high-order ice dynamics and subglacial hydrology, the proportionality constant, and the exponent have remained poorly constrained parameters. Recently, two independent studies in the Antarctic Peninsula and Patagonian Andes (Koppes et al., 2015) and the Franz Josef Glacier, New Zealand (Herman et al., 2015) simultaneously collected erosion rate and ice velocity data to find that erosion depends non-linearly on sliding velocity, and that the exponent on velocity is about 2. Such a nonlinear rule is appealing because it may, in part, explain the observed variations in erosion rates globally. Furthermore, an exponent about 2 closely matches theoretical predictions for abrasion. Although it is tempting to argue that abrasion is the dominant process for fast flowing glaciers like the Franz Josef Glacier, there is a clear need for more data and better quantification for the role of quarrying. Both studies also led to very similar values for the proportionality constant Kg. These new results therefore imply that glacial erosion processes might be better constrained than previously thought. Given that glacial velocity can nowadays be measured and modeled at an unprecedented resolution, it may potentially become possible to use glacial erosion models in a predictive manner. Herman, F. et al. "Erosion by an Alpine glacier." Science 350.6257 (2015): 193-195. Koppes, M. et al. "Observed

A number of studies have identified glacial retreat throughout the greater Himalayan region over the past few decades, but the Karakorum region remains an anomaly with large stagnating or advancing glaciers. The glacial behavior in the Tien Shan is still unclear, as few studies have investigated mass balances in the region. This study focuses on the highest peaks of the Tien Shan mountain range, in the region of Jengish Chokusu along the Kyrgyzstan-China-Kazakhstan border. In a first step, a 30-year time series of Landsat imagery (n=27) and ASTER imagery (n=10) was developed to track glacial growth and retreat in the region. Using a combination of spectral and topographic information, glacial outlines are automatically delineated. As several important glaciers in the study region contain medium to high levels of debris cover, our algorithm also improves upon current methods of detecting debris-covered glaciers by using topography, distance weighting methods, river networks, and additional spectral data. Linked to glacial retreat are glacial lake outburst floods (GLOFs) that have become increasingly common in High Mountain Asia over the last few decades. As glaciers retreat, their melt water is often trapped by weakly bonded moraines. These moraines have been known to fail due to overtopping caused by surge waves created by avalanches, rockslides, or glacial calving. A suite of studies throughout High Mountain Asia have used remotely-sensed data to monitor the formation and growth of glacial lakes. In a second step of the work, lake-area changes over the past 15 years were tracked monthly and seasonally using dense Landsat/ASTER coverage (n=30) with an automatic procedure based on spectral and topographic information. Previous work has identified GLOFs as a significant process for infrastructural damage in the southern Tien Shan/northern Pamir, as well as in the better studied Himalaya region. Lake identification and quantification of lake-growth rates is a valuable

Vegetation and climate during the last ice age and the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM, ∼23,000-19,000 cal BP) were considerably different than during the current interglacial (Holocene). Cold climatic conditions and growing ice-sheets during the last glaciation radically reduced forest extent in Europe to a restricted number of so-called "refugia", mostly located in the southern part of the continent. On the basis of paleobotanical analyses the Euganian Hills (Colli Euganei) in northeastern Italy have previously been proposed as one of the northernmost refugia of temperate trees (e.g. deciduous Quercus, Tilia, Ulmus, Fraxinus excelsior, Acer, Abies alba, Fagus sylvatica, Carpinus and Castanea) in Europe. In this study we provide the first quantitative, vegetation independent summer air temperature reconstruction for Northern Italy spanning the time ∼31,000-17,000 cal yr BP, which covers the coldest periods of the last glacial, including the LGM and Heinrich stadials 1 to 3. Chironomids preserved in a lake sediment core from Lago della Costa (7m a.s.l.), a small lake at the south-eastern edge of the Euganean Hills, allowed quantitative reconstruction of Full and Late Glacial summer air temperatures using a combined Swiss-Norwegian temperature inference model based on chironomid assemblages from 274 lakes. Chironomid and pollen evidence from Lago della Costa derives from finely stratified autochthonous organic gyttja sediments, which excludes major sediment mixing or reworking. After reconstructing paleo-temperatures, we address the question whether climate conditions were warm enough to permit the local survival of temperate tree species during the LGM and whether local expansions and pollen-inferred contractions of temperate tree taxa coincided with chironomid-inferred climatic changes. Our results suggest that chironomids at Lago della Costa have responded to major climatic fluctuations such as temperature decreases during the LGM and Heinrich stadials. The

The Rakaia, Rangitata, and Clutha River basins of the Southern Alps were major ice pathways for Southern Alps outlet glaciers during the last glaciation. While extensive CRN dating of moraine boulders has constrained the timing of a major ice advance to around the time of the Northern Hemisphere ice sheet maximum ("LGM"), extensive stratigraphic exposures permit extension of glacial records to important earlier phases of the last glaciation. Those exposures, present in most valleys, yield an extensive and detailed sedimentologic record and a closely linked luminescence chronology of glacial events spanning the entire last glacial cycle. Recently published work from the Rakaia drainage demonstrates multiple ice advances into the middle Rakaia Valley and uppermost Canterbury Plains during the last glacial cycle. Prominent ice advances there are documented largely in glacial-lacustrine and glacial-fluvial sediments, in a coarsening-upward, basin-filling sequence. Those ice advances occurred during MIS 5b (ca. 100-90 ka), MIS 5a/4 (ca. 80 ka), MIS 3 (ca. 48 ka and 40 ka), and MIS 2 (ca. 25-15 ka). In the central Rangitata valley, a spectacular kame terrace sequence superposes LGM and deglacial-phase sediments on extensive MIS 3 and possible MIS 4 sediments. At three distinct locations, provisional OSL ages indicate a prominent ice advance during MIS 3 (ca. 30-50 ka). Near surface sediments associated with kame terraces indicate enhanced fluvial activity around the LGM, and indicate that deglaciation was well under way by 13 ka. Further south in the Clutha valley, exposures at Lakes Wanaka and Hawea demonstrate ice advances during MIS 3 and MIS 2, largely associated with ice-proximal lacustrine deposition. Extensive outwash sequences 2-15 km downvalley reveal a detailed record of glacial-fluvial activity that appears to extend through the last glacial cycle. These valley records demonstrate that, in particular, MIS 3 featured extensive ice advances, with ice extent

At least 15 floods ascended the Sanpoil arm of glacial Lake Columbia during a single glaciation. Varves between 14 of the flood beds indicate one backflooding every 35 to 55 yr. This regularity suggests that the floods came from an ice-dammed lake that was self-dumping. Probably the self-dumping lake was glacial Lake Missoula, Montana, because the floods accord with inferred emptyings of that lake in frequency and number, apparently entered Lake Columbia from the east, and produced beds resembling backflood deposits of Lake Missoula floods in southern Washington.

Highly-weathered rock outcrops (tors) often occur on regolith-covered, low-relief upland plateaus in formerly glaciated polar landscapes. Owing to their advanced weathering degree and lack of glacial erosional or depositional features, they have traditionally been interpreted to have escaped ice sheet coverage as nunatak refugia for flora and fauna. However, in many places terrestrial cosmogenic nuclide (TCN) exposure dated erratic blocks deposited on the regolith and the asymmetric streamlining of tor outcrops allude to past ice coverage. Complex cosmic ray exposure histories of ice cover have been deciphered using two radiogenic nuclides with dissimilar decay rates. However, while 26Al/10Be ratios can indicate that the rock had been previously buried by ice, the ratios alone cannot determine when the cover occurred. Thus, interpretation that ice cover occurred during the last glacial maximum (LGM) may be flawed. We have developed a novel approach to interpret ratios of TCN in the context of complex exposure histories accounting for recurring burial by cold-based ice and address the problem of episodic glacial plucking. First, we establish the average exposure:cover ratio for the tor sites we visited. Assuming orbital pacing of glacial-interglacial cycles, we model plausible exposure histories of periodic exposure and burial intervals. The majority of the 26 samples collected from highly-weathered tors on Cumberland Peninsula interfjord plateaus require average relative exposure durations of 20% within a glacial-interglacial cycle (i.e., 20 ka of exposure and 80 ka of ice coverage). Three samples located along narrow, highly-weathered coastal ridges indicate ice-free conditions throughout their entire exposure history. Minimum total exposure durations range from 320 ka up to 1.8 Ma, which are approximately twice as long as previous estimates of total exposure histories. This model assumes ice coverage during LGM, but a Monte Carlo simulation has shown that several

Changes in deep ocean ventilation are commonly invoked as the primary cause of lower glacial atmospheric CO2. The water mass structure of the glacial deep Atlantic Ocean and the mechanism by which it may have sequestered carbon remain elusive. Here we present neodymium isotope measurements from cores throughout the Atlantic that reveal glacial–interglacial changes in water mass distributions. These results demonstrate the sustained production of North Atlantic Deep Water under glacial conditions, indicating that southern-sourced waters were not as spatially extensive during the Last Glacial Maximum as previously believed. We demonstrate that the depleted glacial δ13C values in the deep Atlantic Ocean cannot be explained solely by water mass source changes. A greater amount of respired carbon, therefore, must have been stored in the abyssal Atlantic during the Last Glacial Maximum. We infer that this was achieved by a sluggish deep overturning cell, comprised of well-mixed northern- and southern-sourced waters. PMID:27256826

We have revisited the mtDNA phylogeny of the bank vole Clethrionomys glareolus based on Sanger and next-generation Illumina sequencing of 32 complete mitochondrial genomes. The bank vole is a key study species for understanding the response of European fauna to the climate change following the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) and one of the most convincing examples of a woodland mammal surviving in cryptic northern glacialrefugia in Europe. The genomes sequenced included multiple representatives of each of the eight bank vole clades previously described based on cytochrome b (cob) sequences. All clades with the exception of the Basque - likely a misidentified pseudogene clade - were highly supported in all phylogenetic analyses and the relationships between the clades were resolved with high confidence. Our data extend the distribution of the Carpathian clade, the marker of a northern glacial refugium in the Carpathian Mountains, to include Britain and Fennoscandia (but not adjacent areas of continental Europe). The Carpathian sub-clade that colonized Britain and Fennoscandia had a somewhat different history from the sub-clade currently found in or close to the Carpathians and may have derived from a more north-westerly refugial area. The two bank vole populations that colonized Britain at the end of the last glaciation are for the first time linked with particular continental clades, the first colonists with the Carpathian clade and the second colonists with the western clade originating in a more southerly refugium in the vicinity of the Alps. We however found no evidence that a functional divergence of proteins encoded in the mitochondrial genome promoted the partial genetic replacement of the first colonists by the second colonists detected previously in southern Britain. We did identify one codon site that changed more often and more radically in the tree than expected and where the observed amino acid change may affect the reductase activity of the cytochrome bc1

This radar image of Dublin, Ireland, shows how the radar distinguishes between densely populated urban areas and nearby areas that are relatively unsettled. In the center of the image is the city's natural harbor along the Irish Sea. The pinkish areas in the center are the densely populated parts of the city and the blue/green areas are the suburbs. The two ends of the Dublin Bay are Howth Point, the circular peninsula near the upper right side of the image, and Dun Laoghaire, the point to the south. The small island just north of Howth is called 'Ireland's Eye,' and the larger island, near the upper right corner of the image is Lambay Island. The yellow/green mountains in the lower left of the image (south) are the Wicklow Mountains. The large lake in the lower left, nestled within these mountains, is the Poulaphouca Reservoir along River Liffey. The River Liffey, the River Dodden and the Tolka River are the three rivers that flow into Dublin. The straight features west of the city are the Grand Canal and the three rivers are the faint lines above and below these structures. The dark X-shaped feature just to the north of the city is the Dublin International Airport. The image was acquired by the Spaceborne Imaging Radar-C/X-band Synthetic Aperture (SIR-C/X-SAR) when it flew aboard the space shuttle Endeavour on April 11, 1994. This area is centered at 53.3 degrees north latitude, 6.2 degrees west longitude. The area shown is approximately 55 kilometers by 42 kilometers (34 miles by 26 miles). The colors are assigned to different frequencies and polarizations of the radar as follows: Red is L-band horizontally transmitted, horizontally received; green is L-band vertically transmitted, vertically received; and blue is C-band vertically transmitted, vertically received. SIR-C/X-SAR, a joint mission of the German, Italian, and the United States space agencies, is part of NASA's Mission to Planet Earth.

Relatively little research has been undertaken on the use of digital elevation models to recognize the spatially variable glacial imprint of a landscape. Using theoretical topographies and a landscape evolution model, we investigate to what extent the hypsometric analysis of digital elevation models may be used to recognize the glacial signature of mountain ranges. A new morphometric parameter, which we term the hypsokyrtome (from the Greek: ipsos = elevation, kyrtoma = curvature), is derived from the gradient of the hypsometric curve. The efficacy of the hypsometric integral and hypsokyrtome is tested through the study of the Ben Ohau Range, New Zealand, whose glacial imprint has been described previously. With a numerical model we further test the geomorphic parameters in describing the morphologies of regions subject to diverse climatic and tectonic conditions. The hypsokyrtome is highly sensitive to glacial erosion, and the maps produced provide insights into the spatial distribution of glacial erosion. We use SRTM data and focus on two alternative geomorphic settings: the European Alps and the Apennines. The former has been affected by both fluvial and glacial erosion while the latter mainly exhibits a fluvially dominated morphology. The correlation between elevations with increased glacial erosion and Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) equilibrium line altitudes (ELAs) suggests the prevalence of a "glacial buzz saw" in the Alps, indicating that climate may put a limit on alpine topography.

Present-day vertical movements of the Earth's surface are mostly due to tectonic deformation, volcanic processes, and crustal loading/unloading. In tectonically stable regions of North America and Scandinavia, vertical movements are almost entirely attributable to glacial isostatic rebound after the melting of the Laurentide and Fennoscandian ice sheets. In contrast, the Pleistocene Alpine icecap grew on a younger mountain belt that formed by collision of the European and African plates, still subject to shortening. Therefore, measured uplift is potentially a composite signal of tectonic shortening and unloading after deglaciation and concomitant erosion. Deciphering the contributions of tectonics and crustal unloading to present-day uplift rates in formerly-glaciated mountain belts is a prerequisite to using uplift data to estimate the viscosity structure of the Earth's mantle, a key variable in geodynamics. We evaluate the post-LGM glacial-isostatic rebound of the Alps following a 4-tiered procedure. First, we estimated the thickness distribution of sedimentary valley fills to create a bedrock map of the entire mountain belt. Second, this map was used as topographic basis for the reconstruction of the Alpine icecap using a numerical ice-flow model. Third, we estimated the equilibrium deflection of the Alpine lithosphere, using the combined loads of ice and sediments with a variable effective elastic thickness. Finally, we used an exponential decay function to infer the residual deflection and the present-day uplift rate for a range of upper mantle viscosities. Our analysis shows that virtually all of the geodetically measured surface uplift in the Swiss and the Austrian Alps can be attributed to glacial unloading and redistribution of sediments, assuming an upper-mantle viscosity lower than that inferred for an old craton (e.g., Fennoscandia), but higher than that for a region with recent crustal thinning (e.g., Basin and Range province).

The North Atlantic Ocean is bordered by continents which may each, under the influence of seasonal weather patterns, act as sources of natural and anthropogenic trace gas and particulate species. Photochemically active species such as carbon monoxide (CO) react to form ozone (O3), a species of critical importance in global climate change. CO is sparingly soluble in water, and the relatively long lifetime of CO in the troposphere makes this species an ideal tracer of air masses with origin over land. We have measured CO using a nondispersive infrared gas filter correlation analyzer at Mace Head on the west coast of Ireland nearly continuously since August 9, 1991. Measurements of CO were acquired at 20-sec resolution and recorded as 60-sec averages. Daily, monthly, and diurnal variation data characteristics of CO mixing ratios observed at this site are reported. Depending on source regions of air parcels passing over this site, 60-min concentrations of CO range from clean air values of approximately 90 ppbv to values in excess of 300 ppbv. Data characterizing the correlation between 60-min CO and O3 mixing ratio data observed at this site are reported also.

The Pleistocene outburst floods from glacial Lake Missoula, known as the "Spokane Floods", released as much as 2184 km 3 of water and produced the greatest known floods of the geologic past. A computer simulation model for these floods that is based on physical equations governing the enlargement by water flow of the tunnel penetrating the ice dam is described. The predicted maximum flood discharge lies in the range 2.74 × 10 6-13.7 × 10 6 m 3 sec -1, lending independent glaciological support to paleohydrologic estimates of maximum discharge.

Two-dimensional electric resistivity imaging (ERI) is the most exciting and promising geological tool in geomorphology and stratigraphy since development of ground-penetrating radar. Recent innovations in 2-D ERI provides a non-intrusive mean of efficiently resolving complex shallow subsurface structures under a number of different geological scenarios. In this paper, we test the capacity of ERI to image two large pre-late Wisconsinan-aged valley-fills in central Alberta and north-central Montana. Valley-fills record the history of pre-glacial and glacial sedimentary deposits. These fills are of considerable economical value as groundwater aquifers, aggregate resources (sand and gravel), placers (gold, diamond) and sometime gas reservoirs in Alberta. Although the approximate locations of pre-glacial valley-fills have been mapped, the scarcity of borehole (well log) information and sediment exposures make accurate reconstruction of their stratigraphy and cross-section profiles difficult. When coupled with borehole information, ERI successfully imaged three large pre-glacial valley-fills representing three contrasting geological settings. The Sand Coulee segment of the ancestral Missouri River, which has never been glaciated, is filled by electrically conductive pro-glacial lacustrine deposits over resistive sandstone bedrock. By comparison, the Big Sandy segment of the ancestral Missouri River valley has a complex valley-fill composed of till units interbedded with glaciofluvial gravel and varved clays over conductive shale. The fill is capped by floodplain, paludal and low alluvial fan deposits. The pre-glacial Onoway Valley (the ancestral North Saskatchewan River valley) is filled with thick, resistive fluvial gravel over conductive shale and capped with conductive till. The cross-sectional profile of each surveyed pre-glacial valley exhibits discrete benches (terraces) connected by steep drops, features that are hard to map using only boreholes. Best quality ERI

Glacial lake hazards and glacial lake distributions are investigated in many glaciated regions of the world, but comparably little attention has been given to these topics in the Indian Himalayas. In this study we present a first area-wide glacial lake inventory, including a qualitative classification at 251 glacial lakes >0.01 km(2). Lakes were detected in the five states spanning the Indian Himalayas, and lake distribution pattern and lake characteristics were found to differ significantly between regions. Three glacial lakes, from different geographic and climatic regions within the Indian Himalayas were then selected for a detailed risk assessment. Lake outburst probability, potential outburst magnitudes and associated damage were evaluated on the basis of high-resolution satellite imagery, field assessments and through the use of a dynamic model. The glacial lakes analyzed in the states of Jammu and Kashmir and Himachal Pradesh were found to present moderate risks to downstream villages, whereas the lake in Sikkim severely threatens downstream locations. At the study site in Sikkim, a dam breach could trigger drainage of ca. 16×10(6)m(3) water and generate maximum lake discharge of nearly 7000 m(3) s(-). The identification of critical glacial lakes in the Indian Himalayas and the detailed risk assessments at three specific sites allow prioritizing further investigations and help in the definition of risk reduction actions. PMID:23218457

A submillennial ice readvance from upland centres of ice dispersal in west central Scotland into northeastern Ireland post-dates the retreat of lowland Irish ice immediately after the Killard Point Stadial (max. 16.5 cal ka BP). The dimensions of this southerly and westerly ice sheet readvance on the margins of the North Channel are reconstructed from subglacial bedform patterns, subglacial tectonic deformation of Tertiary lignite and glacigenic sediment, limiting moraines/outwash and glacial stratigraphy. Morainic ridges at Rams Island and Sandy Bay on the eastern margin of the Lough Neagh basin which mark this ice limit are perpendicular to a well-defined field of subglacial bedforms across east County Antrim. At the ice readvance limits glacial lakes impounded in the Lagan Valley were partially infilled with subaqueous outwash known as the Malone Sands. This water body drained south along the Dundonald/Comber Gap spillway providing sediment which formed extensive, late-glacial marine terraces at the northern end of Strangford Lough around 15-15.5 cal ka BP. The East Antrim Coastal Readvance is part of a much more extensive readvance southwards along the North Channel and adjacent lowlands associated with ice sheet reorganisation and ice sheet growth in west central Scotland. It is now termed the North Channel Readvance and may be similar in age to the Wester Ross Readvance moraines in northwestern Scotland.

Melting glaciers worldwide have an effect on sea level, but also on the stability of pre-existing faults. The load due to continental ice sheets or glaciers depresses the surface below, leading to changes in the lithospheric stresses. The accumulation of ice mass increases the vertical stress, and the horizontal stresses increase due to the accompanying flexure of the lithosphere. During deglaciation, ice-mass loss causes a simultaneous decrease in vertical stress; however, horizontal stresses decrease only slowly due to the slow readjusting of the Earth. After the end of deglaciation, only the induced horizontal stresses remain as the process of glacial isostatic adjustment (GIA) proceeds visco-elastically. The modelling of this process and the estimation of fault slip is enabled by a new GIA-fault model. However, this finite-element model is only available in two dimensions, and the extension to three dimensions is a necessary step further to allow the comparison of obtained fault slips to observations of glacially induced faults in Europe and North America. The model has several input parameters, which affect the activation time of faults and their resulting slip (e.g. ice history, rheology of the Earth, frictional properties, pore-fluid pressure). We will present the results of the new 3D model and show the sensitivity of faults with respect to modelling parameters. Furthermore, a comparison to observations will be presented.

Melting glaciers worldwide have an effect on sea level, but also on the stability of pre-existing faults. The load due to continental ice sheets or glaciers depresses the surface below, leading to changes in the lithospheric stresses. The accumulation of ice mass increases the vertical stress, and the horizontal stresses increase due to the accompanying flexure of the lithosphere. During deglaciation, ice-mass loss causes a simultaneous decrease in vertical stress; however, horizontal stresses decrease only slowly due to the slow readjusting of the Earth. After the end of deglaciation, only the induced horizontal stresses remain as the process of glacial isostatic adjustment (GIA) proceeds visco-elastically. The modelling of this process and the estimation of fault slip is enabled by a new GIA-fault model. However, this finite-element model is only available in two dimensions, and the extension to three dimensions is a necessary step further to allow the comparison of obtained fault slips to observations of glacially induced faults in Europe and North America. The model has several input parameters, which affect the activation time of faults and their resulting slip (e.g. ice history, rheology of the Earth, frictional properties, pore-fluid pressure). We will present the results of the new 3D model and show the sensitivity of faults with respect to modelling parameters. Furthermore, a comparison to observations will be presented.

Scandinavia has experienced major uplift after the last ice age. The rate of uplift along the coasts is so high that its effects have been observed within one generation. Glaciers, sediments and erosion act as loads on the Earth's surface - positive or negative. When a load is applied to the lithosphere covering the asthenosphere, part of the applied load will be supported by the elastic stiffness of the lithosphere, and part by the buoyant forces of the asthenosphere. This process is called isostasy, and the rebound over the last thousands of years has revealed how the Earth reacts to loads. Prior to the last glaciation, northern Europe has experienced more than 30 glaciations. Glacial erosion and repeated ice loading over the last millions of years has significantly influenced the temperature history of sedimentary basins, and associated hydrocarbon maturation in potential source rocks. In addition, repeated loading of glaciers leads to an isostatic response of the lithosphere, which may cause tilting of potential reservoirs, and possible remigration of hydrocarbons. The effects of glaciations are assumed to have caused parts of the accumulation in the Johan Sverdrup field (Utsira High) due to changed migration pathways. Glacial isostasy will lead to tilting of potential reservoirs on the entire Norwegian Continental Shelf. In the western Barents Sea and offshore mid Norway the tilts could exceed 4 m/km, dipping towards east during the glaciations.

A radiocarbon chronology shows that piedmont glacier lobes in the Chilean Andes achieved maxima during the last glaciation at 13,900 to 14,890, 21,000, 23,060, 26,940, 29,600, and {ge}33,500 carbon-14 years before present ({sup 14}C yr B.P.) in a cold and wet Subantarctic Parkland environment. The last glaciation ended with massive collapse of ice lobes close to 14,000 {sup 14}C yr B.P., accompanied by an influx of North Patagonian Rain Forest species. In the Southern Alps of New Zealand, additional glacial maxima are registered at 17,720 {sup 14}C yr B.P., and at the beginning of the Younger Dryas at 11,050 {sup 14}C yr B.P. These glacial maxima in mid-latitude mountains rimming the South Pacific were coeval with ice-rafting pulses in the North Atlantic Ocean. Furthermore, the last termination began suddenly and simultaneously in both polar hemispheres before the resumption of the modern mode of deep-water production in the Nordic Seas. Such interhemispheric coupling implies a global atmospheric signal rather than regional climatic changes caused by North Atlantic thermohaline switches or Laurentide ice surges. 51 refs., 3 figs., 1 tab.

There are three main contributors to the glacial drawdown of atmospheric CO2 content: starvation of the supply of carbon to the ocean-atmosphere reservoir, excess CO2 storage in the deep sea, and surface-ocean cooling. In this talk, I explore a scenario in which all three play significant roles. Key to this scenario is the assumption that deep ocean storage is related to the extent of nutrient stratification of the deep Atlantic. The stronger this stratification, the larger the storage of respiration CO2. Further, it is my contention that the link between Milankovitch insolation cycles and climate is reorganizations of the ocean's thermohaline circulation leading to changes in the deep ocean's CO2 storage. If this is the case, the deep Atlantic d13C record kept in benthic foraminifera shells tells us that deep ocean CO2 storage follows Northern Hemisphere summer insolation cycles and thus lacks the downward ramp so prominent in the records of sea level, benthic 18O and CO2. Rather, the ramp is created by the damping of planetary CO2 emissions during glacial time intervals. As it is premature to present a specific scenario, I provide an example as to how these three contributors might be combined. As their magnitudes and shapes remain largely unconstrained, the intent of this exercise is to provoke creative thinking.

Supraglacial, moraine-dammed and ice-dammed lakes represent a potential glacial lake outburst flood (GLOF) threat to downstream communities in many mountain regions. This has motivated the development of empirical relationships to predict lake volume given a measurement of lake surface area obtained from satellite imagery. Such relationships are based on the notion that lake depth, area and volume scale predictably. We critically evaluate the performance of these existing empirical relationships by examining a global database of measured glacial lake depths, areas and volumes. Results show that lake area and depth are not always well correlated (r2 = 0.38), and that although lake volume and area are well correlated (r2 = 0.91), there are distinct outliers in the dataset. These outliers represent situations where it may not be appropriate to apply existing empirical relationships to predict lake volume, and include growing supraglacial lakes, glaciers that recede into basins with complex overdeepened morphologies or that have been deepened by intense erosion, and lakes formed where glaciers advance across and block a main trunk valley. We use the compiled dataset to develop a conceptual model of how the volumes of supraglacial ponds and lakes, moraine-dammed lakes and ice-dammed lakes should be expected to evolve with increasing area. Although a large amount of bathymetric data exist for moraine-dammed and ice-dammed lakes, we suggest that further measurements of growing supraglacial ponds and lakes are needed to better understand their development.

Little is known about the levels of bully/victim behaviors in schools in Northern Ireland. The aim of the present study was to supplement previous research findings from Northern Ireland by examining the self-reported experiences of school bullying among Northern Ireland children through data collected as part of the 1998 "Youth Life and Times…

Within the course of a decade Ireland has emerged from being a country of emigration to a country of immigration. Since the mid-1990s, Ireland has undergone rapid economic expansion with the recent economic growth resulting in approximately 252,000 migrants entering Ireland over the last 6 years, according to the Irish Times (2003). While a large…

The formulation of a languages-in-education policy (LEP) in Ireland illustrates some challenges at the macro- and micro-levels. A clamour for policy has reverberated through language education institutions in Ireland within the last decade. This paper explores and discusses: (1) the trajectory of an LEP in Ireland from initial formulation to…

This study provides an analysis of the economic impact of Ulster University and its students on the Northern Ireland economy. With over 26,000 students, Ulster University is Northern Ireland's largest university in terms of student numbers. With its headquarters based at the Coleraine Campus, it has three more campuses in Northern Ireland: the…

Absence of documentary or bony evidence before the seventeenth century in Ireland is not conclusive evidence of freedom from tuberculosis. Clear records begin with Bills of Mortality kept in Dublin, the city at the centre of English administration of Ireland, and they show that the basis for an epidemic was firmly established therein before 1700. In the middle of the nineteenth century the cataclysmic Famine opened the floodgates of poverty and urban overcrowding that resulted in an alarming death rate that continued to increase until the early years of the twentieth century. It is to William Wilde (1815-1876) we owe the nuanced investigation of the earliest numerical records of consumption and related disorders in Ireland. PMID:22347740

Disagreement about matters of public policy concerned with moral issues is inevitable in pluralist democracies. One approach to the resolution of moral conflicts in society is the concept of deliberative democracy, which emphasises the process or procedure which ultimately allows a political decision to be reached. The Republic of Ireland effectively has no legislative framework regulating human embryonic stem cell research (hESC research). This article proposes that Irish policymakers establish a procedural framework, similar to that used in other European democracies, to allow the development of appropriate regulations pertaining to hESC research in Ireland. In particular the article will consider how a three-tier model of procedural regulation has been used to achieve certainty in the area ofhESC research in the United Kingdom and Germany and how this model might be applied to Ireland. PMID:23772461

Midwifery education in Ireland has undergone significant changes in recent years including the introduction of direct entry midwifery programmes and a transfer of education to the university sector. While this has provided increased educational opportunities for midwives, the challenge for midwife educators is to prepare students for the increasing complexities of maternity care with a focus on obstetric risk and maternal morbidities with the need to educate midwifery students to support normality and provide woman centred care. The Nursing and Midwifery Board of Ireland has recently produced new Standards and Requirements for midwifery education and Practice Standards for midwives. This article provides information on midwifery education in Ireland and the documents that support the development of the profession. PMID:26776156

Understanding natural climate variability is essential for assessments of climate change. This is reflected in the scaling properties of climate records. The scaling exponents of the interglacial and the glacial climates are fundamentally different. The Holocene record is monofractal, with a scaling exponent H~0.7. On the contrary, the glacial record is multifractal, with a significantly higher scaling exponent H~1.2, indicating a longer persistence time and stronger nonlinearities in the glacial climate. The glacial climate is dominated by the strong multi-millennial Dansgaard-Oeschger (DO) events influencing the long-time correlation. However, by separately analysing the last glacial maximum lacking DO events, here we find the same scaling for that period as for the full glacial period. The unbroken scaling thus indicates that the DO events are part of the natural variability and not externally triggered. At glacial time scales, there is a scale break to a trivial scaling, contrasting the DO events from the similarly saw-tooth-shaped glacial cycles.

Understanding natural climate variability is essential for assessments of climate change. This is reflected in the scaling properties of climate records. The scaling exponents of the interglacial and the glacial climates are fundamentally different. The Holocene record is monofractal, with a scaling exponent H∼0.7. On the contrary, the glacial record is multifractal, with a significantly higher scaling exponent H∼1.2, indicating a longer persistence time and stronger nonlinearities in the glacial climate. The glacial climate is dominated by the strong multi-millennial Dansgaard–Oeschger (DO) events influencing the long-time correlation. However, by separately analysing the last glacial maximum lacking DO events, here we find the same scaling for that period as for the full glacial period. The unbroken scaling thus indicates that the DO events are part of the natural variability and not externally triggered. At glacial time scales, there is a scale break to a trivial scaling, contrasting the DO events from the similarly saw-tooth-shaped glacial cycles. PMID:26980084

The majority of soils in the western Wisconsin have developed from glacial sediments deposited during the Quaternary Period (2.6 million years before present). In many regions, multiple advances and retreats have left a complex landscape of diverse glacial sediments and landforms. The soils that have developed on these deposits reflect the nature…

Understanding natural climate variability is essential for assessments of climate change. This is reflected in the scaling properties of climate records. The scaling exponents of the interglacial and the glacial climates are fundamentally different. The Holocene record is monofractal, with a scaling exponent H∼0.7. On the contrary, the glacial record is multifractal, with a significantly higher scaling exponent H∼1.2, indicating a longer persistence time and stronger nonlinearities in the glacial climate. The glacial climate is dominated by the strong multi-millennial Dansgaard-Oeschger (DO) events influencing the long-time correlation. However, by separately analysing the last glacial maximum lacking DO events, here we find the same scaling for that period as for the full glacial period. The unbroken scaling thus indicates that the DO events are part of the natural variability and not externally triggered. At glacial time scales, there is a scale break to a trivial scaling, contrasting the DO events from the similarly saw-tooth-shaped glacial cycles. PMID:26980084

In this paper we respond to Staver's article (this issue) on an attempt to resolve the discord between science and religion. Most specifically, we comment on Staver's downplaying of difference between Catholics and Protestants in order to focus on the religion-science question. It is our experience that to be born into one or other of these traditions in some parts of the world (especially Northern Ireland) resulted in starkly contrasting opportunities, identities and practices in becoming and being science educators. The paper starts with a short contextual background to the impact of religion on schooling and higher education in Northern Ireland. We then explore the lives and careers of three science/religious educators in Northern Ireland: Catholic (Jim) and Protestant (Ivor) males who are contemporaries and whose experience spans pre-Troubles to post-conflict and a Catholic female (Colette) who moved to Northern Ireland during the Troubles as a teenager. Finally, we discuss the situation regarding the teaching of creationism and evolution in Northern Ireland—an issue has recently generated high public interest. The Chair of the Education Committee of the Northern Ireland Assembly recently stated that "creationism is not for the RE class because I believe that it can stand scientific scrutiny and that is a debate which I am quite happy to encourage and be part of…" (News Letter 2008). It could be the case that the evolution debate is being fuelled as a deliberate attempt to undermine some of the post-conflict collaboration projects between schools and communities in Northern Ireland.

Mountain streams provide important headwater refugia for native fish, amphibians, and other cold-water fauna globally. Although the well documented existence of such refugia indicates some level of resistance to ongoing environmental change, stream warming associated with climate change raises questions about their future persistence. Moreover, evidence exists that air temperatures are warming faster at higher elevations, and some stream temperature models predict that cold streams associated with snowmelt hydrologies will be most sensitive to air temperature increases (i.e. high ratio of stream Δ˚C:air Δ˚C). Here, we estimate stream sensitivities to climate forcing using long-term monitoring records from 927 sites across the topographically complex northwestern U.S. Sensitivity values are combined with high-resolution NorWeST stream temperature scenarios (website: http://www.fs.fed.us/rm/boise/AWAE/projects/NorWeST.html) to map climate velocities at 1 kilometer resolution throughout the 450,000 stream kilometers in the regional network. Our results suggest that cold mountain streams are often 'double buffered' against the thermal effects of climate change due to low sensitivities (0.3ºC/ºC) and steep gradients, which translated to very slow climate velocities (<0.35 km/decade for streams >3% slope) from 1968-2011 when air temperatures warmed at the rate of 0.2ºC/decade. Alternative scenarios based on aggressive air temperature warming rates (2x historical rates) and higher sensitivity values of cold streams suggests velocities will remain low in mountain streams due to the dominant effects of steep channel slope and strong local temperature gradients. These results reinforce earlier predictions from high-resolution species distribution models that show which watersheds are most likely to host resilient native trout populations across the West later this century (Climate Shield project website: http://www.fs

In this paper we consider the statistics on undergraduate student representation in Irish universities and look at student numbers in secondary (high) schools in one region in Ireland. There seems to be no significant change in female participation in physics from 2002 to 2011. Additionally, we have studied the influence of an educator's gender on the prevalence of girls studying physics in secondary schools in Co. Louth, Ireland, and at the postgraduate level in Irish universities. It would appear that strong female role models have a positive influence and lead to an increase in girls' participation in physics.

This paper explores the extent to which Charles Lucas can be described as a typical patriot in mid-eighteenth century Ireland. The political ideas and practices of Irish patriots of the mid-eighteenth century belong to broad spectrum including opposition MPs, anti-Catholic rhetoricians and questioners of the usefulness of the penal laws, economic pamphleteers and individuals interested in recovering Ireland's history and antiquities. Lucas was significant in that he sometimes inhabited all of these political and cultural guises, but also mobilised the Dublin public in political campaigns and was striking in his voluminous output in newspapers and pamphlets. PMID:25609188

The glacial evolution of the Cantabrian Mountains is not well known. Previous studies have focused on the extent of the glacial maximum and the presence of younger features in several massifs. Recently, efforts have been made to date glacial periods, particularly the glacial maximum. This work presents a reconstruction of the glacial evolution in the Cantabrian Mountains, providing data on the environmental characteristics and timing of the different stages from the Quaternary glacial maximum to the Little Ice Age. The study area covers 3000 km2 between the 4°58'W and 3°34'W and includes eleven massifs of the central area of the Cantabrian Mountains. The selected sectors have an Atlantic and Atlantic-Mediterranean transitional climate and include the highest massifs (above 2600 m) and low-altitude glacierised massifs (lower than 2000 m). Glacial extent and evolution have been reconstructed on the basis of detailed geomorphological and morphostratigraphic mapping. The equilibrium line altitude (palaeo-ELA) has been estimated for the different stages of each tongue. The ELA has been assessed by the AAR and modified Kurowski methods and altitude methods have been considered. A numerical chronological framework is proposed using 17 AMS radiocarbon and one OSL data obtained in lake and bog deposits from three massifs. Four main glacial stages have been differentiated, between 38,000 BP and the Little Ice Age. They correspond to different cold environments, and the number of glacial stages varies from one to four among the different massifs. Conclusions are analysed in the context of the Quaternary glacial evolution of other Iberian mountains.

After centuries of geological controversy it is now well-established that the last major deglaciation of planet Earth involved huge fluxes of water from the wasting continental ice sheets, and that much of this water was delivered as floods of immense magnitude and relatively short duration. These late Quaternary megafloods had short-term peak flows comparable in discharge to the more prolonged fluxes of ocean currents. (The discharges for both ocean currents and megafloods generally exceed one million cubic meters per second, hence the prefix “mega.”) Some outburst floods likely induced very rapid, short-term effects on Quaternary climates. The late Quaternary megafloods also greatly altered drainage evolution and the planetary patterns of water and sediment movement to the oceans. The classic Channeled Scabland region is now seen a but a small component in a source-to-sink system extending from ice-marginal lacustrine (glacial lakes Columbia and Missoula) and possible subglacial sources beneath the Cordilleran Ice Sheet, through the scabland intermediate zone, and on to sink relationships on the abyssal plain of the Pacific Ocean. Other North American glacial megaflood landscapes are now recognized in the Columbia and Snake River drainages of the northwestern U.S.; in the spillway systems of the upper Mississippi Basin; near the Great Lakes and adjacent St. Lawrence Basin; the Hudson River Basin; the Mackenzie Basin; the Yukon Basin (Porcupine River); the Sustina and Copper River Basins (Alaska); and the Hudson Strait. South American megafloods in the Santa Cruz River system (Argentina) emanated from the Patagonian Ice Sheet, and other Patagonian megaflooding probably occurred on the Chilean side. In Eurasia, the megaflooding from the margins of the Fennoscandian Ice Sheet spilled through the English Channel. In the mountain areas of central northern Asia, there were megaflood outbursts from the Issyk-Kul area, the Altai Mountains (upper Ob drainage), and the

Recent coupled modeling studies have shown that the existence of the glacial ice sheets intensifies the Atlantic meridional overturning circulation (AMOC). Since this may play an important role in maintaining a strong AMOC over the last glacial period, which is suggested by recent reconstruction study, it is very important to understand the process by which glacial ice sheets intensify the AMOC. Here, a decoupled simulation is conducted to investigate the effect of wind change due to glacial ice sheets on the AMOC, the crucial region where wind modifies the AMOC and the mechanism, which remained elusive in previous studies. First, from atmospheric general circulation model (AGCM) experiments, the effect of glacial ice sheets on the surface wind is evaluated. Second, from ocean general circulation model (OGCM) experiments, the influence of the wind stress change on the AMOC is evaluated by applying only the changes in the surface wind as a boundary condition, while leaving surface heat and freshwater fluxes unchanged. Moreover, several sensitivity experiments are conducted. Using the AGCM, glacial ice sheets are applied individually. Using the OGCM, changes in the wind are applied regionally or at different magnitudes, ranging from the full glacial to modern levels. These experiments demonstrate that glacial ice sheets intensify the AMOC through an increase in the wind stress curl mainly at the North Atlantic mid-latitudes. This intensification is caused by the increased Ekman upwelling and gyre transport of salt while the change in sea ice transport works as a negative, though minor, feedback.

Glacial and postglacial processes are known to be important determinants of contemporary population structuring for many species. In Europe, refugia in the Italian, Balkan and Iberian peninsulas are believed to be the main sources of species colonising northern Europe after the glacial retreat; however, there is increasing evidence of small, cryptic refugia existing north of these for many cold-tolerant species. This study examined the glacial history of Atlantic salmon in western Europe using two independent classes of molecular markers, microsatellites (nuclear) and mitochondrial DNA variation. Alongside the well-documented refuge in the Iberian Peninsula, evidence for a cryptic refuge in northwest France is also presented. Critically, methods utilised to estimate divergence times between the refugia indicated that salmon in these two regions had diverged a long time before the last glacial maximum; coalescence analysis (as implemented in the program IMa2) estimated divergence times at around 60 000 years before present. Through the examination of haplotype frequencies, previously glaciated areas of northwest Europe, that is, Britain and Ireland, appear to have been colonised from salmon expanding out of both refugia, with the southwest of England being the primary contact zone and exhibiting the highest genetic diversity. PMID:23512011

First Antarctic Climate Evolution Symposium; Granada, Spain, 7-11 September 2009; Antarctic Climate Evolution (ACE; http://www.ace.scar.org), a scientific research project of the Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research and a core International Polar Year project, held its first international symposium in Spain in September 2009. ACE's mission is to facilitate the study of Antarctic climate and glacial history through integration of numerical modeling with geophysical and geological data. Nearly 200 international scientists from the fields of climate, ocean, and ice modeling joined geologists, geophysicists, and geochemists for 5 days of intense interaction. Oral sessions were plenary and were limited to allow time for poster viewing, discussion, and workshops (http://www.acegranada2009.com/).

This paper provides a literature review of methods successfully employed to characterize finegrained and fractured or unfractured glacial deposits. Descriptions and examples are given for four major categories of characterization methods: physical, hydraulic, chemical, and indirect. Characterization methods have evolved significantly within the past ten years; however, there still exists uncertainty about the reliability of individual characterization methods applied to till deposits. Therefore, a combination of methods is best, the choice of which depends on the objectives of the work. Sampling methods, sampling scales, and reporting methods are extremely important and should be considered when interpreting and comparing results between sites. Recognition of these issues is necessary to ensure that decisions regarding the transport of fluids in fractured tills are not based on the assumption that poorly permeable tills are always an inhibitor of subsurface flow.

The Gulf of Alaska drainage basin contains more than 75,000 km2 of glaciers, many of which are rapidly thinning and receding. We are using a paired watershed approach to evaluate how changes in glacier ecosystems will impact the export dissolved organic matter (DOM) into the Gulf of Alaska. Our primary study watersheds, Lemon Creek and Montana Creek, are similar in size, bedrock lithology and elevation range and extend from near sea level to the margin or interior of the Juneau Icefield. Lemon Creek has a glacial coverage of ~60%, while Montana Creek is free of glacier ice. Our goal is to evaluate seasonal differences in the quantity, chemical character and reactivity of DOM being exported from these watersheds to downstream near-shore marine ecosystems. In addition, we are monitoring a variety of physical parameters that influence instream DOM metabolism in both watersheds. Our initial results from the 2009 runoff season indicate that concentrations of dissolved organic carbon (DOC) are substantially higher in the non-glacial watershed. However, fluorescence analyses indicate that DOM from the glacier watershed has a higher protein and lower humic material content compared to DOM from the non-glacial watershed. After the spring snowmelt season, physical parameters between the two watersheds diverged, with higher streamflow and turbidity as well as colder water temperatures in the glacial watershed. Although our previous yield calculations show significantly higher DOC fluxes from the forested watershed, our results here suggest that glacier watersheds may be an important source of labile carbon to the near shore marine ecosystem. The contrast in the physical habitat between the two rivers (e.g glacier stream = cold, low light penetration, unstable substrate) supports the hypothesis that that in-stream DOM processing is limited within glacier dominated rivers, therefore delivering a higher percentage of labile DOM downstream.

The Ordovician glaciation represents the acme of one of only three major icehouse periods in Earth's Phanerozoic history and is notorious for setting the scene for one of the "big five" mass extinction events. Nevertheless, the mechanisms that drove ice sheet growth remain poorly understood and the final extent of the ice sheet crudely constrained. Here using an Earth system model with an innovative coupling method between ocean, atmosphere, and land ice accounting for climate and ice sheet feedback processes, we report simulations portraying for the first time the detailed evolution of the Ordovician ice sheet. We show that the emergence of the ice sheet happened in two discrete phases. In a counterintuitive sequence of events, the continental ice sheet appeared suddenly in a warm climate. Only during the second act, and set against a background of decreasing atmospheric CO2, followed steeply dropping temperatures and extending sea ice. The comparison with abundant sedimentological, geochemical, and micropaleontological data suggests that glacial onset may have occurred as early as the Middle Ordovician Darriwilian, in agreement with recent studies reporting third-order glacioeustatic cycles during the same period. The second step in ice sheet growth, typified by a sudden drop in tropical sea surface temperatures by ˜8°C and the further extension of a single, continental-scale ice sheet over Gondwana, marked the onset of the Hirnantian glacial maximum. By suggesting the presence of an ice sheet over Gondwana throughout most of the Middle and Late Ordovician, our models embrace the emerging paradigm of an "early Paleozoic Ice Age."

Climate changes are one of the most investigated topic in paleolimnology. The Late Glacial and Early Holocene time are specially interesting as than most abrupt changes happened. Lake sediments are known to be great source of information of the past environments. They are functioning as natural archives because in them preserve animal and plants remains. In this study we investigated three cores of the biogenic sediments from the lakes located in close vicinity in Tuchola Forest (Northern Poland): paleolake Trzechowskie, Lake Czechowskie-deepest part and Lake Czechowskie-bay. We made Cladocera, diatom and pollen analysis, the chronology was determined by varve counting, Laacher See Tephra (12,880 yrs BP) and 14C dating. The aim of our research was to find out the response of zooplankton, phytoplankton, lake and catchment vegetation to abrupt climate changes. We were interested in similarities and differences between those three locations in response of entire communities but also species composition. The preliminary results revealed that the Cladocera, diatoms and plants communities were sensitive to climatic shifts and it is well shown in the results of ordination method (PCA). However in the Cladocera and diatoms assemblages, which reflect well lake environment conditions, the dominant species and total number of species present, were different in all three locations. Especially great difference was noted between paleolake Trzechowskie and Lake Czechowskie (core from the deepest part). The results of our research shows that in Late Glacial time landscape in Lake Czechowskie region (Tuchola Forest, Northern Poland) had mosaic character. Local factors such as relief, edaphic conditions strongly modified type of vegetation and in close vicinity existed lakes that had very diverse environments.

In the Earth's crust, stress can be subdivided into tectonic background stress, overburden pressure, and pore-fluid pressure. The superposition of the first two and the variation of the third part are key factors in controlling movement along faults. Furthermore, stresses due to sedimentation and erosion contribute to the total stress field. In deglaciated regions, an additional stress must be considered: the rebound stress, which is related to rebounding of the crust and mantle after deglaciation. During the growth of a continental ice sheet, the lithosphere under the iceload is deformed and the removal of the ice load during deglaciation initiates a rebound process. The uplift is well known in formerly glaciated areas, e.g.North America and Scandinavia, and in currently deglaciating areas, e.g.Alaska, Antarctica, and Greenland. The whole process of subsiding and uplifting during the growth and melting of an iceload and all related phenomena is known as glacial isostatic adjustment. During the process of glaciation, the surface of the lithosphere is depressed underneath the ice load and compressional flexural stresses are induced in the upper lithosphere, whereas the bottom of the lithosphere experiences extensional flexural stresses; an additional vertical stress due to the ice load is present and it decreases to zero during deglaciation. During rebound, flexural stresses relax slowly. These stresses are able to change the original stress directions and regime.In this work we aim to study the effect of the GIA process in the context of petroleum engineering. The main aspect we will focus on is the mathematical and numerical modeling of the GIA including thermal effects. We plan also to include a preliminary study of the effect of the glacial erosion. All these phenomena are of paramount importance in petroleum engineering: for example some reservoir have been depleted due to tilting caused by both GIA, erosion and thermal effects.

Supraglacial, moraine-dammed and ice-dammed lakes represent a potential glacial lake outburst flood (GLOF) threat to downstream communities in many mountain regions. This has motivated the development of empirical relationships to predict lake volume given a measurement of lake surface area obtained from satellite imagery. Such relationships are based on the notion that lake depth, area and volume scale predictably. We critically evaluate the performance of these existing empirical relationships by examining a global database of glacial lake depths, areas and volumes. Results show that lake area and depth are not always well correlated (r2 = 0.38) and that although lake volume and area are well correlated (r2 = 0.91), and indeed are auto-correlated, there are distinct outliers in the data set. These outliers represent situations where it may not be appropriate to apply existing empirical relationships to predict lake volume and include growing supraglacial lakes, glaciers that recede into basins with complex overdeepened morphologies or that have been deepened by intense erosion and lakes formed where glaciers advance across and block a main trunk valley. We use the compiled data set to develop a conceptual model of how the volumes of supraglacial ponds and lakes, moraine-dammed lakes and ice-dammed lakes should be expected to evolve with increasing area. Although a large amount of bathymetric data exist for moraine-dammed and ice-dammed lakes, we suggest that further measurements of growing supraglacial ponds and lakes are needed to better understand their development.

Rapid climate change events (Dansgaard-Oeschger and Heinrich events) during the last glacial have been well documented in the Greenland ice cores (e.g. NGRIP), but their impact at lower latitudes is still not fully understood. In Ireland, few climate records older than the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) exist due to extensive glacial reworking. Exceptions are cave deposits in an environment protected from extensive glacial erosion. Speleothem deposition requires the presence of liquid water implying cave air temperatures above 0°C. As air temperature in shallow caves (<30m depth) is similar to the mean annual air temperature (MAAT) at the surface; speleothem deposition can only occur in the absence of permafrost or glaciation. In this study, intervals of speleothems deposition in Crag cave, South West Ireland have been determined by U-series-dating to constrain the timing of ice- and permafrost-free conditions prior to the LGM. Here we present evidence for episodic speleothem deposition between the Holocene and the last interglacial. Ninety eight U-Th dates indicate phases of speleothem deposition, interrupted by visible hiatuses e.g. at 131.5 ±0.6; 104.8 ±0.2; 83.9 ±0.3; 71.7 ±0.2; 65.2 ±0.2; 58.9 ±0.3; 47.1 ±0.1; 43.5 ±0.2; 40.0 ±0.1; 38.0 ±0.1; 32.1 ±0.1; 28.8 ±0.1; 27.8 ±0.1; 23.3 ±0.1; 12.5 ±0.2; 11.6 ±0.1; 8.5 ±0.4 ka. These depositional intervals in Crag cave speleothems show an overall synchronicity with Dansgaard-Oeschger (D-O) events recorded in NGRIP. Furthermore, Heinrich events 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6 are characterised by non-deposition. Measured δ18O values in Crag cave speleothems deposited during Marine Isotope Stage (MIS) 5a are similar to the mean value for Holocene speleothems (δ18O = -3.26 ‰ VPDB). A trend to higher δ18O values during the glacial is interpreted to predominantly reflect changes in the ocean source region (ice volume effect). Observed δ13C values down to -10‰ (VPDB) indicate the presence of C3 vegetation above the

Haloclines induced by freshwater inflow over tidal water have been identified as an important mechanism for maintaining warm water in passive thermal refugia (PTR) used by Florida manatees Trichechus manatus latirostris during winter in extreme southwestern Florida. Record-setting cold during winter 2009–2010 resulted in an unprecedented number of manatee deaths, adding to concerns that PTR may provide inadequate thermal protection during severe cold periods. Hydrological data from 2009–2010 indicate that 2 canal systems in the Ten Thousand Islands (TTI) region acted as PTR and maintained warm bottom-water temperatures, even during severe and prolonged cold periods. Aerial survey counts of live and dead manatees in TTI during the winter of 2009–2010 suggest that these PTR were effective at preventing mass mortality from hypothermia, in contrast to the nearby Everglades region, which lacks similar artificial PTR and showed high manatee carcass counts. Hydrological data from winter 2008–2009 confirmed earlier findings that without haloclines these artificial PTR may become ineffective as warm-water sites. Tidal pumping of groundwater appears to provide additional heat to bottom water during low tide cycles, but the associated thermal inversion is not observed unless salinity stratification is present. The finding that halocline-driven PTR can maintain warm water even under extreme winter conditions suggests that they may have significant potential as warm-water sites. However, availability and conflicting uses of freshwater and other management issues may make halocline-driven PTR unreliable or difficult to manage during winter.

The study of the European plethodontid salamander Hydromantes strinatii using allozyme and mitochondrial markers showed a strong geographical genetic structure. This was likely the outcome of different evolutionary mechanisms leaving their signature despite the effects of the genetic drift due to the low population size typical of this species. Two highly divergent clades were identified in the eastern and central-western part of the range, with further geographic sub-structure. Nuclear and mitochondrial markers substantially recovered the same population groups but were conflicting in reconstructing their relationships. This apparent incongruence highlighted the action of different mechanisms such as secondary contacts and incomplete lineage sorting in originating the observed genetic variation. The troglophilic habit of this species provided the opportunity to show the importance of caves as local refugia in maintaining the genetic diversity through the persistence of local populations. Accordingly, high nucleotide and haplotype diversity, strong geographic genetic structuring and lack of expansion were evidenced. This signature was found in the populations from the Ligurian and Maritime Alps, in agreement with the complex orography and paleoclimatic history of this Mediterranean hotspot. PMID:26107249

Dryland rivers have considerable flow variability, producing complex ecosystems, processes, and communities of organisms that vary over space and time. They are also among the more vulnerable of the world’s ecosystems. A key strategy for conservation of dryland rivers is identifying and maintaining key sites for biodiversity conservation, particularly protecting the quantity and quality of flow and flooding regimes. Extreme variability considerably challenges freshwater conservation planning. We systematically prioritised wetlands for waterbirds (simultaneously for 52 species), across about 13.5% of the Murray-Darling Basin (1,061,469 km2), using a 30-year record of systematic aerial surveys of waterbird populations. Nine key wetlands in this area, primarily lakes, floodplains, and swamps, consistently contributed to a representation target (80%) of total abundances of all 52 waterbird species. The long temporal span of our data included dramatic availability (i.e., booms) and scarcity (i.e., busts) of water, providing a unique opportunity to test prioritisation at extremes of variation. These extremes represented periods when waterbirds were breeding or concentrating on refugia, varying wetland prioritisation. In dry years, important wetlands for waterbirds were riverine and lacustrine (12 wetlands) but this changed in wet years to lacustrine and palustrine (8 wetlands). Such variation in ecosystem condition substantially changes the relative importance of individual wetlands for waterbirds during boom and bust phases. Incorporating this variability is necessary for effective conservation of Murray-Darling Basin waterbirds, with considerable generality for other similarly variable systems around the world. PMID:26161652

Dryland rivers have considerable flow variability, producing complex ecosystems, processes, and communities of organisms that vary over space and time. They are also among the more vulnerable of the world's ecosystems. A key strategy for conservation of dryland rivers is identifying and maintaining key sites for biodiversity conservation, particularly protecting the quantity and quality of flow and flooding regimes. Extreme variability considerably challenges freshwater conservation planning. We systematically prioritised wetlands for waterbirds (simultaneously for 52 species), across about 13.5% of the Murray-Darling Basin (1,061,469 km2), using a 30-year record of systematic aerial surveys of waterbird populations. Nine key wetlands in this area, primarily lakes, floodplains, and swamps, consistently contributed to a representation target (80%) of total abundances of all 52 waterbird species. The long temporal span of our data included dramatic availability (i.e., booms) and scarcity (i.e., busts) of water, providing a unique opportunity to test prioritisation at extremes of variation. These extremes represented periods when waterbirds were breeding or concentrating on refugia, varying wetland prioritisation. In dry years, important wetlands for waterbirds were riverine and lacustrine (12 wetlands) but this changed in wet years to lacustrine and palustrine (8 wetlands). Such variation in ecosystem condition substantially changes the relative importance of individual wetlands for waterbirds during boom and bust phases. Incorporating this variability is necessary for effective conservation of Murray-Darling Basin waterbirds, with considerable generality for other similarly variable systems around the world. PMID:26161652

Global analyses of nearly 90 families and 275 genera of brachiopods from the middle Ashgill through the Hirnantian (Ordovician) to the lower-middle Rhuddanian (Silurian) suggest that about 60% and 40% of the total number of genera were eliminated at the first and second phases of the end Ordovician extinction event, respectively. Among the 85 surviving genera, about 50 with declining and 10 with proliferating abundances are known from the Hirnantian together with about 20 provisional Lazarus taxa. The Lazarus taxa are essentially survivors and form the extremity of the declining genera. The distributions of declining genera and relicts during the crisis interval shows a random and sporadic pattern, suggesting there was no single, common refugium for end Ordovician brachiopods. In addition to their biological attributes, a markedly decreased population size together with taphonomic failure and poor preservation, and collecting bias have contributed towards the distributional trends apparent during the event. The development of declining genera during the extinction may be linked to their palaeogeographical setting, the phylogenetic history of the taxa, and the ambient environmental conditions. This new global database has significantly reduced the number of Lazarus taxa and minimizes the number of possible locations for collective refugia during the end Ordovician crisis. Nevertheless, the atrypids, athyridids, pentamerids, and spiriferids had more limited distributions during the crisis interval but formed the locus for a Silurian diversification of the phylum into carbonate environments possibly around the Rhuddanian-Aeronian boundary.

The incised and degraded habitat of Bridge Creek, tributary to the John Day River in central Oregon, is thought to be limiting the local population of ESA-listed steelhead trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss). Restoration efforts for this watershed are aimed to improve their habitat through reconnecting the channel with portions of its former floodplain (now terraces) to increase stream habitat complexity and the extent of riparian vegetation. This is being done via the installation of over a hundred beaver dam support (BDS) structures that are designed to either mimic beaver dams or support existing beaver dams. The overall objective of this study is to determine if the BDS structures have had an effect on stream channel habitat complexity and thermal refugia in selected sections of Bridge Creek. Analysis of stream temperature data in restoration treatment and control areas will show the effects of beaver dams on stream temperature. Analysis of aerial imagery and high resolution topographic data will exhibit how the number and types of geomorphic units have changed after the construction of beaver dams. Combined, the results of this research are aimed to increase our understanding of how beaver dams impact fish habitat and stream temperature.

Ireland has large water resources. Only 5.3% of developable waters are as yet developed, to supply some 650 I/day/per capita to the population of some 3.37 million people. State of development varies in each of the seven water resources regions. Precipitation is fairly evenly distributed over the year, but the percentage infiltrating to form groundwater varies quite sharply. Some 61% of infiltration occurs in the four winter months November to February, when agricultural activities are low. Only 10% infiltrates in the four summer months, May to August, when agricultural activities are high. In all, annual groundwater amounts to some 24.8 km3, of which 50% is considered to be recoverable. Capital groundwater reserves must be large, but are unquantified. Under these conditions, the impact of agriculture on groundwater quantities is negligible. Of the annual extraction of some 170 × 106m3 of groundwater, some 66 × 106m3/year are used in different agricultural activities. Drainage operations, however, have effects on Irish groundwater. Such lands may overlie impermeable strata or pans, or may receive concealed or visible groundwater discharge. Their drainage will affect the groundwater in various ways. There has been a considerable impact of agriculture on groundwater quality. The effects on the atmosphere and on precipitation are not identifiable. Effects of diffuse infiltration are treated with respect to: (a) application of ground limestone (lime); (b) application of K.N.P. inorganic fertilizer; (c) spreading of organic slurries; (d) development of organic nitrogen in soils, mainly after ploughing of grasslands; and (e) residues from herbicides, fungicides, and pesticides. The infiltration of these substances spread on the land is closely related to the interaction between times of ground-water recharge and times of fertilizer application. Effects of concentrated infiltration are treated under seven sub-heads: (a) infiltration of polluted surface waters; (b

The role of Pleistocene glacial cycles in forming the contemporary genetic structure of organisms has been well studied in China with a particular focus on the Tibetan Plateau. However, China has a complex topography and diversity of local climates, and how glacial cycles may have shaped the subtropical and tropical biota of the region remains mostly unaddressed. To investigate the factors that affected the phylogeography and population history of a widely distributed and nondeciduous forest species, we analysed morphological characters, mitochondrial DNA sequences and nuclear microsatellite loci in the Silver Pheasant (Lophura nycthemera). In a pattern generally consistent with phenotypic clusters, but not nominal subspecies, deeply divergent mitochondrial lineages restricted to different geographic regions were detected. Coalescent simulations indicated that the time of main divergence events corresponded to major glacial periods in the Pleistocene and gene flow was only partially lowered by drainage barriers between some populations. Intraspecific cytonuclear discordance was revealed in mitochondrial lineages from Hainan Island and the Sichuan Basin with evidence of nuclear gene flow from neighbouring populations into the latter. Unexpectedly, hybridization was revealed in Yingjiang between the Silver Pheasant and Kalij Pheasant (Lophura leucomelanos) with wide genetic introgression at both the mtDNA and nuclear levels. Our results highlight a novel phylogeographic pattern in a subtropical area generated from the combined effects of climate oscillation, partial drainage barriers and interspecific hybridization. Cytonuclear discordance combined with morphological differentiation implies that complex historical factors shaped the divergence process in this biodiversity hot spot area of southern China. PMID:23692215

Glacial landforms are generated from the activity of glaciers and display spatial dimensions ranging from below one meter up to tens of kilometers. Glacial landforms are used as diagnostic features of past activity of ice sheets and glaciers; they are specifically important in the field of palaeoglaciology. Mapping of submarine glacial landforms is largely dependent on geophysical survey methods capable of imaging the seafloor and sub-bottom through the water column. Full "global" seafloor mapping coverage, equivalent to what exists for land elevation, is to-date only achieved by the powerful method of deriving bathymetry from altimeters on satellites like GEOSAT and ERS-1. The lateral resolution of satellite derived bathymetry is, however, limited by the footprint of the satellite and the need to average out local wave and wind effects resulting in values of around 15 km. Consequently, mapping submarine glacial landforms requires for the most part higher resolution than is achievable by satellite derived bathymetry. The most widely-used methods for mapping submarine glacial landforms are based on echo-sounding principles. This presentation shows how the evolution of marine geophysical mapping techniques, in particular the advent of side-scan and multibeam bathymetric sonars, has made it possible to study submarine glacial landforms in unprecedented detail. Examples are shown from the Atlas of Submarine Glacial Landforms: Modern, Quaternary and Ancient, which will be published in late 2015 in the Memoir Series of the Geological Society of London.

Successively smaller glacial extents have been proposed for continental Eurasia during the stadials of the last glacial period leading up to the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM). At the same time the large mountainous region east of Lake Baikal, Transbaikalia, has remained unexplored in terms of glacial chronology despite clear geomorphological evidence of substantial past glaciations. We have applied cosmogenic 10Be exposure dating and optically stimulated luminescence to establish the first quantitative glacial chronology for this region. Based on eighteen exposure ages from five moraine complexes, we propose that large mountain ice fields existed in the Kodar and Udokan mountains during Oxygen Isotope Stage 2, commensurate with the global LGM. These ice fields fed valley glaciers (>100 km in length) reaching down to the Chara Depression between the Kodar and Udokan mountains and to the valley of the Vitim River northwest of the Kodar Mountains. Two of the investigated moraines date to the Late Glacial, but indications of incomplete exposure among some of the sampled boulders obscure the specific details of the post-LGM glacial history. In addition to the LGM ice fields in the highest mountains of Transbaikalia, we report geomorphological evidence of a much more extensive, ice-cap type glaciation at a time that is yet to be firmly resolved.

The buzzsaw hypothesis refers to the potential for glacial and periglacial processes to rapidly denude mountains at and above glacier Equilibrium Line Altitudes (ELAs), irrespective of uplift rates, rock type or pre-existing topography. Here the appropriateness of the buzzsaw metaphor is examined alongside questions of the links between glacial erosion and ELAs, and whether the glacial system can produce low-relief surfaces or limit summit heights. Plateau fragments in mountains on both active orogens and passive margins that have been cited as products of glacial and periglacial buzzsaw erosion instead generally represent dissected remnants of largely inherited, pre-glacial relief. Summit heights may correlate with ELAs but no causal link need be implied as summit erosion rates are low, cirque headwalls may not directly abut summits and, on passive margins, cirques are cut into pre-existing mountain topography. Any simple links between ELAs and glacial erosion break down on passive margins due to topographic forcing of ice-sheet growth, and to the km-scale vertical swaths through which ELAs have shifted through the Quaternary. Glaciers destroy rather than create low-relief rock surfaces through the innate tendency for ice flow to be faster, thicker and warmer along valleys. The glacial buzzsaw cuts down.

This study explored the perspectives of people with learning disabilities on relationships and supports in the Republic of Ireland. A national research network consisting of 21 researchers with learning disabilities, 12 supporters, and 7 university researchers conducted the study. Researchers with learning disabilities and their supporters ran 16…

"Discover Primary Science" is a major project in primary science education in Ireland. In 2006-2007 it involves 2400 primary schools, 45 host centres, and two government departments. However, it started out as a local initiative taken by one state agency in 2002 involving four Institutes of Technology and 40 primary schools. The aim of the…

·Pneumonia and encephalitis due to Histophilus somni in heifers ·Pneumonia due to Bibersteinia trehalosi in a cow ·Fasciolosis in ewes and lambs ·Dosing gun injuries in lambs ·Histomonosis in chickens These are among matters discussed in the Northern Ireland animal disease surveillance quarterly report for October to December 2015. PMID:26868239

This study surveyed family life in different regions of the Republic of Ireland. A sample of Irish couples was chosen by the Catholic Marriage Advisory Council for the purposes of examining marriage and family life, and asked to complete a survey. Individuals (N=216) were asked to classify their marriage style as either traditional or egalitarian…

As the counseling profession continues to build an international community, the need to examine cultural competence training also increases. This quantitative study examined the impact of the Diversity and Counseling Institute in Ireland (DCII) on participants' multicultural counseling competencies. Two instruments were utilized to examine…

This study looks at SME spending on training in Northern Ireland. We include a range of human resource management functions, as well as workforce characteristics, the external environment, size, and the impact of changes in ownership status as important determinants of training expenditure in SMEs. Particular attention is also paid to the…

These guidelines offer information on space planning and design for school principals, boards of management and designers to make permanent learning facilities available for pupils with special educational needs across the 26 counties of Ireland. The guidelines reflect many of the recent changes in the country's educational system, changes that…

A one day symposium of the Anatomical Society of Great Britain and Ireland was held at the Royal Free Hospital in London on the 17th September 1999, on the topic of 'Mechanisms of ageing and longevity'. The following are abstracts of communications and posters presented at the meeting. PMID:17103660

The Winter Meeting of the Anatomical Society of Great Britain and Ireland was held at Royal Holloway College, Egham, 7-9 January 2003. It included a symposium on 'Repairing the nervous system'. The following are abstracts of communications and posters presented at the meeting. PMID:17103798

The Winter Meeting of the Anatomical Society of Great Britain and Ireland was held at the Royal Holloway College, Egham, Surrey from 5th to 7th January 2000. It included a symposium on 'Phenotypic changes in epithelial development' and the Annual General Meeting of the Society. The following are abstracts of communications and posters presented at the meeting. PMID:17103662

Bovine viral diarrhoea virus (BVDV) causes an economically important endemic disease (BVD) of cattle in Ireland and worldwide. Systematic eradication by detection and removal of infectious (BVDV carrier) cattle has been successful in several regions. We therefore assessed the benefits (disease losses avoided) and costs (testing and culling regime) of a potential eradication programme in Ireland. Published bio-economic models of BVDV spread in beef suckler herds and dairy herds were adapted to estimate potential benefits of eradication in Ireland. A simple model of BVDV spread in beef finisher herds was devised to estimate the benefits of eradication in this sector. A six year eradication programme consisting of 5 inter-related virological and serological testing programmes is outlined and costed. We found that the annualised benefits of BVDV eradication in Ireland exceeded the costs by a factor of 5 in the beef suckler sector and a factor of 14 in the dairy sector. Corresponding payback periods were 1.2 and 0.5 years respectively. These results highlight the significant economic impact of BVDV on the Irish cattle industry and suggest a clear economic benefit to eradication using the proposed approach. This type of cost-benefit analysis is considered an essential prerequisite prior to undertaking an eradication campaign of this magnitude. PMID:22748235

Reports results of a series of semi-structured interviews with 12 teachers from Catholic and Protestant schools in Northern Ireland. Explores such topics as professional autonomy, teacher-pupil relations, a teacher's freedom to pursue his or her own methods, discipline, sources of professional identity and the social and political backgrounds to…

The Radiological Protection Institute of Ireland (RPII) has recently completed a detailed evaluation of all radiation exposure pathways from sources of both natural and artificial radiation in the Irish environment. This paper presents a compilation of the occupational doses received by Irish workers exposed to natural sources of ionising radiation.

A discussion of the effects of social upheaval in Northern Ireland on the school system looks at the politically and religiously divided schools, traditional segregation by social class and sex, changes currently being attempted, establishment of common curricular elements, and the role of parents. (MSE)

Following a long history of religiously segregated schooling in Northern Ireland, a contested society characterised by division and conflict, pioneering parents set up the first integrated school 28 years ago to educate "together" pupils from the two main cultural traditions. Integrated schools generate an ethos whereby opportunities are afforded…

This paper critically examines the model of practical assessment discussed by Bennett and Kennedy (2001), and considers it in the light of recent changes in the assessment of science courses in the Republic of Ireland. The model is discussed in detail and the empirical results are re-evaluated. The discussion has wider relevance for the…

Northern Ireland is a small island nation, a divided island that since the middle ages has witnessed war and conflict and sectarian strife. Their recent conflict erupted in 1969, and for 30 years they have subjected themselves to a sectarian warfare. All was not bleak throughout the 1970s, '80s, and early '90s. NIPPA--The Early Years…

In Northern Ireland, where the majority of children are educated at schools attended mainly by coreligionists, the debate concerning the role of schools in perpetuating intergroup hostilities has recently been reignited. Against questions regarding the efficacy of community relations policy in education, the research reported in this paper employs…

• Otitis media associated with Mycoplasma bovis infection in calves. • Yew poisoning in a calf. • Jaagsiekte in sheep. • Fasciolosis and copper toxicity in sheep. These are among matters discussed in the Northern Ireland animal disease surveillance quarterly report for October to December 2013. PMID:24509392

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to assess the levels of burnout experienced by accounting and finance academics in Ireland. Design/methodology/approach: Data for this cross-sectional survey study were collected from 100 accounting and finance academics teaching in Irish third level institutions. Independent sample "t"-tests, one way analysis…

Examines the friendship choices of Northern Ireland adolescents within a planned integrated school, a Protestant desegregated school, and a Catholic desegregated school. Reporting on over 300 middle- and high-school students revealed that in-group bias was the exception rather than the rule. All three schools exhibited similar characteristics.…

This article examines the legislation under which religious education operates in Northern Ireland's schools. A brief historical sketch identifies the Irish Churches' interest in the educational debates of the 1920s and 1930s. The legislation that established religious education in the curriculum is traced from those debates to the present…

The relationship between home and school is an integral feature of how pupils learn and parents have a central role to play in their child's education. Philosophical and practical discourse around inclusion has informed and directed inclusive policy in recent years. In Northern Ireland, it has latterly been conducted under the auspices of emerging…

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the approach to embedding entrepreneurship within third level education in Northern Ireland by assessing the perceptions of lecturers and learners and monitoring the effectiveness of teaching methods. Design/methodology/approach: Surveys and focus groups were conducted with lecturers and learners…

To date there has been little research on young people and sexuality in Northern Ireland. This paper draws on the first major study in this area to analyse the delivery of formal sex education in schools. Both quantitative and qualitative methods were used to access young people's opinions about the quality of the sex education they had received…

In a report on meeting the language needs of refugees in Ireland, Little (2000) identifies two sets of language rights for refugees--stemming from the right to preserve their own language or languages as a central element of identity, and the right to enjoy free access to Irish society which entails the right to develop language proficiency in…

Endocarditis in a cow. Blackleg in unvaccinated calves. Copper poisoning in pedigree sheep. Malignant oedema in a ram. Salmonellosis in fattening pigs. Fungal pneumonia and airsacculitis in turkeys. Coccidiosis and Marek's disease in gamebirds. These are among matters discussed in the Northern Ireland animal disease surveillance quarterly report for July to September 2015. PMID:26564887

The publication of the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) 2009 (Cosgrove et al., 2010; Perkins et al., 2010) reading literacy results heralded a crisis of confidence in educational standards in Ireland. This article examines the national and international context of teacher education reform and the politics of the policy…

Examines the Irish language community in Northern Ireland, and questions the validity of the census results of 1991. Particular focus is on the concept of a mother tongue and its relevance for speakers of Irish in the United Kingdom. Discusses measures to improve the status of Irish as a result of the Good Friday Agreement. (Author/VWL)

In an increasingly technological world, technology education programs designed to meet the needs of the demanding technological environment must be planned and coordinated efficiently. In response to this changing technological environment, the provision of technology education in Ireland is currently undergoing development. The educational…

The Department of Education in Northern Ireland has been reviewing the procedures for suspending and expelling pupils from school. This article reports the views of a random sample of 114 children (11-16 years) towards the proposed changes. Pupils' thoughts on: dealing with misbehaviour; setting rules; the decision-making process; appropriate…

This dissertation explores the life and identity of Paul Mills Ireland, III. The qualitative study was conducted using the portraiture approach and was further developed by incorporating the holistic content approach of analysis in narrative research. This fifth generation soldier was the product of a strong military lineage, most of whom were…

Describes a study which showed that adolescents who reasoned at Kohlberg's "principles" level of moral reasoning are more tolerant than those who reasoned predominantly at the "conventional" level. Subjects in the study were senior high students in Ireland. Information was gathered through questionnaires. (RM)

The Republic of Ireland is an island situated in north-west Europe inhabited by 4.6 million people, with 2.8% between 0 and 4 years of age with a disability (Central Statistics Office, 2012). The Irish Government funds the Irish health services, which, in turn, directly and indirectly funds disability services. Education and Disability legislation…

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to report the results of a national survey that examined the extent of implementation of Health Promoting Schools (HPS) in Ireland. Design/methodology/approach: A quantitative research design was adopted. A questionnaire was administered to all post-primary schools in the country (n = 704). Data were analysed…

Rapid changes in Northern Ireland's demographic, resulting in an increasingly multicultural and multilingual school population, are presenting new opportunities and challenges for schools in a region emerging from a troubled recent past. Reflecting on this from a pastoral perspective, this article focuses on the relationships between the school…

The Radiological Protection Institute of Ireland (RPII) has recently completed a detailed evaluation of all radiation exposure pathways from sources of both natural and artificial radiation in the Irish environment. This paper presents a compilation of the occupational doses received by Irish workers exposed to natural sources of ionising radiation.

Early childhood care and education in Ireland has come under increasing scrutiny in recent years, as a result of public concern about standards in some early years services. Services for children before they enter primary school are largely the responsibility of the department of health, while children in the formal school system are the…

Ireland has experienced an unprecedented level of economic growth since the mid-1990s. The present article assesses the extent to which this phenomenon has altered the level and nature of youth unemployment, using data from six waves of a nationally representative survey of school-leavers. The main impact of the "Celtic Tiger" has been to smooth…

Connemara, a rural region in Ireland, is characterized by high unemployment, high emigration, poor infrastructure, inadequate public services, and a low rate of transfer to third-level education. To address the situation, the Galway-Mayo Institute of Technology (GMIT), joined forces with Connemara West (a community-owned development organization…

How education systems operate in divided societies is an increasingly important question for academics and educational practitioners as well as for governments. The question is particularly pertinent in post-conflict societies, where education is a key mechanism for resolving conflict between divided communities. Using Northern Ireland as a case…

This article considers the landscape for educational research in the smallest country of the United Kingdom, Northern Ireland. As elsewhere, educational research exists in political and economic circumstances that have considerable influence on its direction, nature and purpose and this article seeks to contextualise these influences. Northern…

Background and Aims Few phylogeographic studies have been undertaken of species confined to narrow, linear coastal systems where past sea level and geomorphological changes may have had a profound effect on species population sizes and distributions. In this study, a phylogeographic analysis was conducted of Eucalyptus gomphocephala (tuart), a tree species restricted to a 400 × 10 km band of coastal sand-plain in south west Australia. Here, there is little known about the response of coastal vegetation to glacial/interglacial climate change, and a test was made as to whether this species was likely to have persisted widely through the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM), or conforms to a post-LGM dispersal model of recovery from few refugia. Methods The genetic structure over the entire range of tuart was assessed using seven nuclear (21 populations; n = 595) and four chloroplast (24 populations; n = 238) microsatellite markers designed for eucalypt species. Correlative palaeodistribution modelling was also conducted based on five climatic variables, within two LGM models. Key Results The chloroplast markers generated six haplotypes, which were strongly geographically structured (GST = 0·86 and RST = 0·75). Nuclear microsatellite diversity was high (overall mean HE 0·75) and uniformly distributed (FST = 0·05), with a strong pattern of isolation by distance (r2 = 0·362, P = 0·001). Distribution models of E. gomphocephala during the LGM showed a wide distribution that extended at least 30 km westward from the current distribution to the palaeo-coastline. Conclusions The chloroplast and nuclear data suggest wide persistence of E. gomphocephala during the LGM. Palaeodistribution modelling supports the conclusions drawn from genetic data and indicates a widespread westward shift of E. gomphocephala onto the exposed continental shelf during the LGM. This study highlights the importance of the inclusion of complementary, non-genetic data (information on geomorphology and

Sister (congeneric) species may exhibit disparate patterns of biogeographic genetic structures due to different life histories and habitat preferences. The common cockle Cerastoderma edule and the lagoon cockle Cerastoderma glaucum probably diverged from their common ancestor in the present territory of Sahara around 5 million years ago. Although it is difficult to separate both species morphologically, various genetic markers, both mitochondrial and nuclear, clearly distinguish them. Furthermore, their lifestyles are different, as C. edule has a much less fragmented coastal habitat and a longer duration of pelagic larval stage than C. glaucum. A comparative genetic analysis was conducted on 17 populations of C. edule and 13 populations of C. glaucum using a 506 bp fragment of mitochondrial DNA (COI). We tested the hypothesis that differences in habitat types and life history are reflected in the genetic structure patterns of these two cockles. Indeed substantial differences in population genetic structures between them are revealed. Genetic diversity within C. glaucum populations decreases northwards as a consequence of post-glacial (re)colonization from southern refugia, while C. edule displays an opposite pattern indicating survival in glacial refuges in the northern Atlantic. Among populations within geographic groups, genetic differentiation is low in C. edule, probably as a result of larval dispersal with coastal currents, while it is extremely high in C. glaucum, best explained by the fragmented habitats. Interestingly, long distance divergence is less expressed in C. glaucum than in C. edule, which supports the speculation that migrating birds (frequently observed in lagoons) may occasionally transport the former more often or more efficiently than the latter. The approach applied in this study (e.g., rarefaction procedure, selection of samples of both species from the same regions) enabled a new and reliable comparative analysis of the existing raw

Emplacement of glacial moraines normally results in obliteration of older moraines deposited by less extensive glacial advances, a process we call 'obliterative overlap'. Assuming randomness and obliterative overlap, after 10 glacial episodes the most likely number of surviving moraines is only three. The record of the Pleistocene is in agreement with the probability analysis: the 10 glaciations during the past 0.9 Myr inferred from the deep-sea record resulted in moraine sequences in which only two or three different-aged moraine belts can generally be distinguished. -from Authors

The Late Ordovician (Ashgillian) glacial deposits in southern Jordan, comprise a lower and upper glacially incised palaeovalley system, occupying reactivated basement and Pan-African fault-controlled depressions. The lower palaeovalley, incised into shoreface sandstones of the pre-glacial Tubeiliyat Formation, is filled with thin glaciofluvial sandstones at the base, overlain by up to 50 m of shoreface sandstone. A prominent glaciated surface near the top of this palaeovalley-fill contains intersecting glacial striations aligned E-W and NW-SE. The upper palaeovalley-fill comprises glaciofluvial and marine sandstones, incised into the lower palaeovalley or, where this is absent, into the Tubeiliyat Formation. Southern Jordan lay close to the margin of a Late Ordovician terrestrial ice sheet in Northwest Saudi Arabia, characterised by two major ice advances. These are correlated with the lower and upper palaeovalleys in southern Jordan, interrupted by two subsidiary glacial advances during late stage filling of the lower palaeovalley when ice advanced from the west and northwest. Thus, four ice advances are now recorded from the Late Ordovician glacial record of southern Jordan. Disturbed and deformed green sandstones beneath the upper palaeovalley-fill in the Jebel Ammar area, are confined to the margins of the Hutayya graben, and have been interpreted as structureless glacial loessite or glacial rock flour. Petrographic and textural analyses of the deformed sandstones, their mapped lateral transition into undeformed Tubeiliyat marine sandstones away from the fault zone, and the presence of similar sedimentary structures to those in the pre-glacial marine Tubeiliyat Formation suggest that they are a locally deformed facies equivalent of the Tubeiliyat, not part of the younger glacial deposits. Deformation is attributed to glacially induced crustal stresses and seismic reactivation of pre-existing faults, previously weakened by epeirogenesis, triggering sediment

Records of carbon and nitrogen isotopes in biogenic silica and carbon isotopes in planktonic foraminifera from deep-sea sediment cores from the Southern Ocean reveal that the primary production during the last glacial maximum was lower than Holocene productivity. These observations conflict with the hypothesis that the low atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations were introduced by an increase in the efficiency of the high-latitude biological pump. Instead, different oceanic sectors may have had high glacial productivity, or alternative mechanisms that do not involve the biological pump must be considered as the primary cause of the low glacial atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations.

A glacial environment is a unique setting that can alter human remains in characteristic ways. This study describes glacial dynamics and how glaciers can be understood as taphonomic agents. Using a case study of human remains recovered from Colony Glacier, Alaska, a glacial taphonomic signature is outlined that includes: (1) movement of remains, (2) dispersal of remains, (3) altered bone margins, (4) splitting of skeletal elements, and (5) extensive soft tissue preservation and adipocere formation. As global glacier area is declining in the current climate, there is the potential for more materials of archaeological and medicolegal significance to be exposed. It is therefore important for the forensic anthropologist to have an idea of the taphonomy in this setting and to be able to differentiate glacial effects from other taphonomic agents. PMID:26917542

Proposes a simple model for the unusual depositional sequences and morphology of the Antarctic continental shelf. It considers the regional stratal geometry and the reversed morphology to be principally the results of time-integrated effects of glacial erosion and sedimentation related to the location of the ice grounding line. The model offers several guidelines for stratigraphic interpretation of the Antarctic shelf and a Northern Hemisphere shelf, both of which were subject to many glacial advances and retreats. -Authors

Glacial fjord habitats are undergoing rapid change as a result of contemporary global warming, yet little is known about how glaciers influence marine ecosystems. These ecosystems provide important feeding, breeding and rearing grounds for a wide variety of marine organisms, including seabirds of management concern. To characterize ocean conditions and marine food webs near tidewater glaciers, we conducted monthly surveys of oceanographic variables, plankton, fish and seabirds in Kenai Fjords, Alaska, from June to August of 2007 and 2008. We also measured tidal current velocities near glacial features. We found high sediment load from glacial river runoff played a major role in structuring the fjord marine ecosystem. Submerged moraines (sills) isolated cool, fresh, stratified and silt-laden inner fjord habitats from oceanic influence. Near tidewater glaciers, surface layers of turbid glacial runoff limited availability of light to phytoplankton, but macrozooplankton were abundant in surface waters, perhaps due to the absence of a photic cue for diel migration. Fish and zooplankton community structure varied along an increasing temperature gradient throughout the summer. Acoustic measurements indicated that low density patches of fish and zooplankton were available in the surface waters near glacial river outflows. This is the foraging habitat occupied most by Kittlitz's murrelet (Brachyramphus brevirostris), a rare seabird that appears to be specialized for life in glacially influenced environments. Kittlitz's murrelets were associated with floating glacial ice, and they were more likely to occur near glaciers, in deeper water, and in areas with high acoustic backscatter. Kittlitz's murrelet at-sea distribution was limited to areas influenced by turbid glacial outflows, and where prey was concentrated near the surface in waters with low light penetration. Tidewater glaciers impart unique hydrographic characteristics that influence marine plankton and fish

Internationally, citizenship education has come to the fore in the past decade. It may be particularly important within the context of societies with a legacy of political conflict, such as Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland, where it is being implemented as part of the statutory curriculum. This article explores understandings of…

This study explored the knowledge, experience and confidence of student teachers from Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland in relation to disablist bullying. Adopting a mixed methodological approach of four focus groups (N = 18) and a pencil-and-paper questionnaire (N = 257), the study explored the students knowledge, experience and…

Australia's Great Sandy Region is of international significance containing two World Heritage areas and patches of rainforest growing on white sand. Previous broad-scale analysis found the Great Sandy biogeographic subregion contained a significantly more phylogenetically even subset of species than expected by chance contrasting with rainforest on white sand in Peru. This study aimed to test the patterns of rainforest diversity and relatedness at a finer scale and to investigate why we may find different patterns of phylogenetic evenness compared with rainforests on white sands in other parts of the world. This study focussed on rainforest sites within the Great Sandy and surrounding areas in South East Queensland (SEQ), Australia. We undertook field collections, expanded our three-marker DNA barcode library of SEQ rainforest plants and updated the phylogeny to 95% of the SEQ rainforest flora. We sampled species composition of rainforest in fixed area plots from 100 sites. We calculated phylogenetic diversity (PD) measures as well as species richness (SR) for each rainforest community. These combined with site variables such as geology, were used to evaluate patterns and relatedness. We found that many rainforest communities in the Great Sandy area were significantly phylogenetically even at the individual site level consistent with a broader subregion analysis. Sites from adjacent areas were either not significant or were significantly phylogenetically clustered. Some results in the neighbouring areas were consistent with historic range expansions. In contrast with expectations, sites located on the oldest substrates had significantly lower phylogenetic diversity (PD). Fraser Island was once connected to mainland Australia, our results are consistent with a region geologically old enough to have continuously supported rainforest in refugia. The interface of tropical and temperate floras in part also explains the significant phylogenetic evenness and higher than

Australia’s Great Sandy Region is of international significance containing two World Heritage areas and patches of rainforest growing on white sand. Previous broad-scale analysis found the Great Sandy biogeographic subregion contained a significantly more phylogenetically even subset of species than expected by chance contrasting with rainforest on white sand in Peru. This study aimed to test the patterns of rainforest diversity and relatedness at a finer scale and to investigate why we may find different patterns of phylogenetic evenness compared with rainforests on white sands in other parts of the world. This study focussed on rainforest sites within the Great Sandy and surrounding areas in South East Queensland (SEQ), Australia. We undertook field collections, expanded our three-marker DNA barcode library of SEQ rainforest plants and updated the phylogeny to 95% of the SEQ rainforest flora. We sampled species composition of rainforest in fixed area plots from 100 sites. We calculated phylogenetic diversity (PD) measures as well as species richness (SR) for each rainforest community. These combined with site variables such as geology, were used to evaluate patterns and relatedness. We found that many rainforest communities in the Great Sandy area were significantly phylogenetically even at the individual site level consistent with a broader subregion analysis. Sites from adjacent areas were either not significant or were significantly phylogenetically clustered. Some results in the neighbouring areas were consistent with historic range expansions. In contrast with expectations, sites located on the oldest substrates had significantly lower phylogenetic diversity (PD). Fraser Island was once connected to mainland Australia, our results are consistent with a region geologically old enough to have continuously supported rainforest in refugia. The interface of tropical and temperate floras in part also explains the significant phylogenetic evenness and higher than

Recent rapid warming, glacial retreat, and sea ice reduction observed in the Arctic suggest extreme regional environmental sensitivity to ongoing anthropogenic climate change. To place these recent environmental changes in context and better understand the forcings and feedbacks involved in Arctic climate change, regional studies of past intervals of rapid warming are required. Paleoceanographic studies from the high-latitude North Atlantic indicate close relationships between meltwater discharges from circum-Arctic ice sheets, perturbations of Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC), and global climate variations on sub-orbital timescales during the Late Quaternary. During the last glacial-interglacial transition (25-10 ka), when atmospheric temperatures over Greenland warmed 10-15°C and the AMOC experienced millennial-scale variability, low-resolution stable isotope studies from Fram Strait sediment cores indicate that the circum-Arctic ice sheets began to melt earlier than lower latitude Northern Hemisphere ice sheets, discharging their meltwater into the high latitude North Atlantic. Fram Strait, located at the gateway between the Atlantic and Arctic Oceans, is the only region where Arctic meltwater can exchange with the world oceans on both glacial and interglacial timescales. Thus, high-resolution paleoceanographic studies of Fram Strait sediments are critically required for understanding changes in Arctic meltwater flux to the North Atlantic on sub-orbital timescales. Here we present the first high-resolution (<100 yr) multi-proxy dataset from Fram Strait (ODP Site 986; 77°20.43'N, 9°04.66'E; water depth: 2063 m) to assess the timing of circum-Arctic ice sheet decay since the Last Glacial Maximum. Foraminiferal isotopic and elemental, scanning X-Ray Fluorescence, and ice-rafted debris records are used to isolate Arctic meltwater and iceberg discharge signals. Sharp increases in productivity and changes in water mass ventilation are inferred

Glacial retreat creates new habitat which is colonized and developed by plants and animals during the process of primary succession. While there has been much debate about the relative role of deterministic and stochastic processes during terrestrial succession, evidence from freshwater ecosystems remains minimal and a general consensus is lacking. Using a unique 27 years record of community assembly following glacial recession in southeast Alaska, we demonstrate significant change in the trait composition of stream invertebrate communities as catchment glacial cover decreased from ∼70% to zero. Functional diversity increased significantly as glacier cover decreased and taxonomic richness increased. Null modelling approaches led to a key finding that niche filtering processes were dominant when glacial cover was extensive, reflecting water temperature and dispersal constraints. Thereafter the community shifted towards co-occurrence of stochastic and deterministic assembly processes. A further novel discovery was that intrinsic functional redundancy developed throughout the study, particularly because new colonizers possessed similar traits to taxa already present. Rapid glacial retreat is occurring in Arctic and alpine environments worldwide and the assembly processes observed in this study provide new fundamental insights into how glacially influenced stream ecosystems will respond. The findings support tolerance as a key primary successional mechanism in this system, and have broader value for developing our understanding of how biological communities in river ecosystems assemble or restructure in response to environmental change.

Phylogeographical studies are common in boreal and temperate species from the Palaearctic, but scarce in arid-adapted species. We used nuclear and mitochondrial markers to investigate phylogeography and to estimate chronology of colonization events of the trumpeter finch Bucanetes githagineus, an arid-adapted bird. We used 271 samples from 16 populations, most of which were fresh samples but including some museum specimens. Microsatellite data showed no clear grouping according to the sampling locations. Microsatellite and mitochondrial data showed the clearest differentiation between Maghreb and Canary Islands and between Maghreb and Western Sahara. Mitochondrial data suggest differentiation between different Maghreb populations and among Maghreb and Near East populations, between Iberian Peninsula and Canary Islands, as well as between Western Sahara and Maghreb. Our coalescence analyses indicate that the trumpeter finch colonized North Africa during the humid Marine Isotope Stage 5 (MIS5) period of the Sahara region 125 000 years ago. We constructed an ecological niche model (ENM) to estimate the geographical distribution of climatically suitable habitats for the trumpeter finch. We tested whether changes in the species range in relation to glacial-interglacial cycles could be responsible for observed patterns of genetic diversity and structure. Modelling results matched with those from genetic data as the species' potential range increases in interglacial scenarios (in the present climatic scenario and during MIS5) and decreases in glacial climates (during the last glacial maximum, LGM, 21 000 years ago). Our results suggest that the trumpeter finch responded to Pleistocene climatic changes by expanding and contracting its range. PMID:24215522

Like many large rivers draining from forested uplands, the South Fork of the Eel River is characterized by a warm main stem fed by small cold water tributaries along its length. The confluences of the tributaries with the main stem form localized zones of cold water which provide habitat for anadromous fish species such as salmon. These cold water refugia are likely to be increasingly important for fish as temperatures warm and rainfall becomes more erratic due to projected climate change. These sites are protected from drying out over summer (unlike the tributaries, which can fragment if flows become too low), and they are accessible to migrating fish (as tributaries may not be if winter flows are too low to submerge in-channel obstacles). The overall significance of these refugia, however, is controlled by their spatial extent and temporal persistence. The factors that determine the shape, persistence, and stability of these refugia (as a function of varying flow and temperature regimes) remain poorly understood. A combination of scaling arguments and a 2D model is used to estimate the effects of varying flow and thermal regimes on the spatial extent of the cold water zones in the main stem. The stability of the cold water zones is also assessed in light of diurnal flow and temperature variations. The results are compared to in situ temperature data collected at the confluence of the South Fork of the Eel River and Elder Creek, and are used to project the likely significance of tributary confluences for generating cold-water habitat throughout the South Fork of the Eel River.

Geomorphic and sedimentologic evidence in the Grand Valley, which drained the retreating Saginaw Lobe of the Laurentide Ice Sheet and later acted as a spillway between lakes in the Huron and Erie basins and in the Michigan basin, suggests that at least one drainage event from glacial Lake Saginaw to glacial Lake Chicago was a catastrophic outburst that deeply incised the valley. Analysis of shoreline and outlet geomorphology at the Chicago outlet supports J H Bretz's hypothesis of episodic incision and lake-level change. Shoreline features of each lake level converge to separate outlet sills that decrease in elevation from the oldest to youngest lake phases. This evidence, coupled with the presence of boulder lags and other features consistent with outburst origin, suggests that the outlets were deepened by catastrophic outbursts at least twice. The first incision event is correlated with a linked series of floods that progressed from Huron and Erie basin lakes to glacial Lake Saginaw to glacial Lake Chicago and then to the Mississippi. The second downcutting event occurred after the Two Rivers Advance of the Lake Michigan Lobe. Outbursts from the eastern outlets of glacial Lake Agassiz to glacial Lake Algonquin are a possible cause for this period of downcutting at the Chicago outlets.

The last floods from glacial Lake Missoula, Montana, probably ran into glacial Lake Columbia, in northeastern Washington. In or near Lake Columbia's Sanpoil arm, Lake Missoula floods dating from late in the Fraser glaciation produced normally graded silt beds that become thinner upsection and which alternate with intervals of progressively fewer varves. The highest three interflood intervals each contain only one or two varves, and about 200-400 successive varves conformably overlie the highest flood bed. This sequence suggests that jo??kulhlaup frequency progressively increased until Lake Missoula ended, and that Lake Columbia outlasted Lake Missoula. The upper Grand Coulee, Lake Columbia's late Fraser-age outlet, contains a section of 13 graded beds, most of them sandy and separated by varves, that may correlate with the highest Missoula-flood beds of the Sanpoil River valley. The upper Grand Coulee also contains probable correlatives of many of the approximately 200-400 succeeding varves, as do nearby parts of the Columbia River valley. This collective evidence casts doubt on a prevailing hypothesis according to which one or more late Fraser-age floods from Lake Missoula descended the Columbia River valley with little or no interference from Lake Columbia's Okanogan-lobe dam. ?? 1987.

The last floods from glacial Lake Missoula, Montana, probably ran into glacial Lake Columbia, in northeastern Washington. In or near Lake Columbia's Sanpoil arm, Lake Missoula floods dating from late in the Fraser glaciation produced normally graded silt beds that become thinner upsection and which alternate with intervals of progressively fewer varves. The highest three interflood intervals each contain only one or two varves, and about 200-400 successive varves conformably overlie the highest flood bed. This sequence suggests that jökulhlaup frequency progressively increased until Lake Missoula ended, and that Lake Columbia outlasted Lake Missoula. The upper Grand Coulee, Lake Columbia's late Fraser-age outlet, contains a section of 13 graded beds, most of them sandy and separated by varves, that may correlate with the highest Missoula-flood beds of the Sanpoil River valley. The upper Grand Coulee also contains probable correlatives of many of the approximately 200-400 succeeding varves, as do nearby parts of the Columbia River valley. This collective evidence casts doubt on a prevailing hypothesis according to which one or more late Fraser-age floods from Lake Missoula descended the Columbia River valley with little or no interference from Lake Columbia's Okanogan-lobe dam.

Glaciers and ice sheets represent the second largest reservoir of water in the global hydrologic system and glacier ecosystems cover 10% of the Earth, however the biogeochemistry of glacier discharge has not been well characterized. Preliminary investigations have shown that runoff from glaciers can be an important contributor of dissolved organic carbon (DOC) and macro- and micro- nutrients such as P and Fe to downstream aquatic ecosystems. There is also mounting evidence that glacier ecosystems may be a source of anthropogenically derived constituents such as fossil fuel combustion by-products and persistent organic pollutants that are deposited in precipitation and released in melting glacier ice. As a result, it is critical to develop our understanding of glacial biogeochemistry, particularly in near-shore marine ecosystems along glacially-dominated coastal margins that receive large volumes of glacial runoff. To examine the spatial and temporal variability in the biogeochemical properties of glacial runoff, we sampled snow, ice melt, and glacial runoff at the Mendenhall Glacier near Juneau, Alaska during the summer of 2012. Mendenhall Glacier extends from near-sea level to >1700 m.a.s.l. and encompasses ~120 km2 of the 3900 km2 Juneau Icefield. The main sub-glacial drainage channel was sampled weekly throughout the glacier melt season (May-October) for a suite of physical (temperature, conductivity, suspended sediment) and biogeochemical (C, N, P, Fe and trace metals) parameters. In addition, we did opportunistic sampling of snow in the glacier accumulation zone and supra-glacial meltwater streams on the glacier surface. We also analyzed particulate and dissolved Hg in glacial runoff to quantify the export of Hg to downstream aquatic ecosystems. Preliminary results show that concentrations of dissolved organic carbon in snow, ice melt, and sub-glacial runoff were typically low (<0.5 mg C/L) and not well correlated with discharge. Recent research has shown that

Drawing on detailed interviews with 60 recent migrants to Ireland, we discuss the extent and nature of patient mobility. The paper is framed by the typology of patient mobility outlined by Glinos et al. (2010), which highlights patient motivation and funding. We pay particular attention to four key areas: availability of health care for migrants living in Ireland; affordability of care as a push factor for patient mobility; how migrants' perceptions of care affect their decision about where to avail of care; and the impact of familiarity on patient mobility. We provide empirical support for this typology. However, our research also highlights the fact that two factors - availability and familiarity - require further elaboration. Our research demonstrates the need for greater levels of awareness of culture specificity on the part of both migrants and healthcare providers. It also highlights the need to investigate the social and spatial activities of migrants seeking health care, both within and beyond national boundaries. PMID:21616701

Lisdoonvarna is a small town with a resident population of ca. 700, which is seasonally increased several-fold by tourists. It is located in the northwest of County Clare, western Ireland about 10 km from the Atlantic seaboard and adjacent to the karstic Burren plateau. Lisdoonvarna has two claims to fame: it is the only currently operative spa in Ireland, and it is the center for a long-established match-making festival held each September (postharvest) at which bachelor farmers are found partners by skilled match-makers. These two features of Lisdoonvarna are not wholly unconnected even though the September festival now attracts many young people from outside of the area who may not patronize the spa waters.

Health issues are an integral part of the political agenda in Ireland. Yet no study to date has examined the impact of health concerns on political outcomes. This study investigates the relationship between health, both physical and psychological, and perceptions of the health service, and voter turnout in Ireland using the European Social Survey in 2005, (n = 2286, RR 59.7%). The results show that individuals with poor subjective health are significantly less likely to vote in a General Election. Dissatisfaction with the health service is also associated with a lower probability of voting. However these effects interact: those with poor health and who are dissatisfied with the health service are more likely to vote. Psychological well-being has no effect on voter turnout. The health effects identified in this study are large and further work is needed in this area to identify the causal mechanisms underlying this relationship. PMID:17955706

Aims and method To assess the need for the provision of low secure care in Northern Ireland. A survey of the providers of healthcare in Northern Ireland was conducted using a study tool based on Royal College of Psychiatrists Low Secure Network Standards admission criteria. Results A total of 105 patients were assessed as needing low secure care including 93 patients currently admitted to hospital in the region and 12 patients admitted to hospital outside of the region. Clinical Implications The results of this study are similar to previous estimates of need for the provision of low secure care in the UK. The results provide information likely to be of assistance in the commissioning of low secure services. Declaration of Interest None PMID:26668418

Mouth Cancer Awareness Day in Ireland was launched in September 2010 by survivors of the disease to promote public awareness of suspicious signs of oral cancer and to provide free dental examinations. To find out whether its introduction had increased public interest in the disease, we used Google Trends to find out how often users in Ireland had searched for "oral cancer" and "mouth cancer" across all Google domains between January 2005 and December 2013. The number of internet searches for these cancers has increased significantly (p <0.001) and has peaked each September since the awareness day was launched in 2010. More people searched for "mouth cancer" than for "oral cancer". These findings may have valuable clinical implications, as an increase in public awareness of mouth cancer could result in earlier presentation and better prognosis. PMID:26774361

Numerical age dating techniques, namely different types of terrestrial cosmogenic nuclide dating (TCND), have achieved an impressive progress in both laboratory precision and regional calibration models during the past few decades. It is now possible to apply precise TCND even to young landforms like Late Holocene moraines, a task seemed hardly achievable just about 15 years ago. An increasing number of studies provide very precise TCND ages for boulders from Late Holocene moraines enabling related reconstruction of glacier chronologies and the interpretation of these glacial landforms in a palaeoclimatological context. These studies may also solve previous controversies about different ages assigned to moraines obtained by different dating techniques, for example relative-age dating techniques or techniques combining relative-age dating with few fixed points derived from numerical age dating. There are a few cases, for example Mueller Glacier and nearby long debris-covered valley glacier in Aoraki/Mt.Cook National Park (Southern Alps, New Zealand), where the apparent "supremacy" of TCND-ages seem to overrule glacial geomorphological principles. Enabled by a comparatively high number of individual boulders precisely dated by TCND, moraine ridges on those glacier forelands have been primarily clustered on basis of these boulder ages rather than on their corresponding morphological position. To the extreme, segments of a particular moraine complex morphologically and sedimentologically proven to be formed during one event have become split and classified as two separate "moraines" on different parts of the glacier foreland. One ledge of another moraine complex contains 2 TCND-sampled boulders apparently representing two separate "moraines"-clusters of an age difference in the order of 1,500 years. Although recently criticism has been raised regarding the non-contested application of the arithmetic mean for calculation of TCND-ages for individual moraines, this

As Assistant Commissioner for the Census of Ireland Sir William Wilde worked as an early epidemiologist, providing information regarding the deaf-and-dumb and the blind in mid-nineteenth-century Ireland. As a social agitator he focussed the attention of the authorities to the plight of the blind and their inability to earn a living and support themselves. This paper highlights his contribution to the provision for the blind in Ireland. PMID:27083458

Pleistocene climate changes have imposed extreme conditions to intertidal rocky marine communities, forcing many species to significant range shifts in their geographical distributions. Phylogeographic analyses based on both mitochondrial and nuclear genetic markers provide a useful approach to unravel phylogeographic patterns and processes of species after this time period, to gain general knowledge of how climatic changes affect shifts in species distributions. We analyzed these patterns on the corkwing wrasse (Symphodus melops, Labridae), a rocky shore species inhabiting North Sea waters and temperate northeastern Atlantic Ocean from Norway to Morocco including the Azores, using a fragment of the mitochondrial control region and the first intron of the nuclear S7 ribosomal protein gene. We found that S. melops shows a clear differentiation between the Atlantic and the Scandinavian populations and a sharp contrast in the genetic diversity, high in the south and low in the north. Within each of these main geographic areas there is little or no genetic differentiation. The species may have persisted throughout the last glacial maximum in the southern areas as paleotemperatures were not lower than they are today in North Scandinavia. The North Sea recolonization most likely took place during the current interglacial and is dominated by a haplotype absent from the south of the study area, but present in Plymouth and Belfast. The possibility of a glacial refugium in or near the English Channel is discussed. PMID:22408733

It has long been debated whether high alpine specialists survived ice ages in situ on small ice-free islands of habitat, so-called nunataks, or whether glacial survival was restricted to larger massifs de refuge at the periphery. We evaluate these alternative hypotheses in a local radiation of high alpine carabid beetles (genus Trechus) in the Orobian Alps, Northern Italy. While summits along the northern ridge of this mountain range were surrounded by the icesheet as nunataks during the last glacial maximum, southern areas remained unglaciated. We analyse a total of 1366 bp of mitochondrial (Cox1 and Cox2) data sampled from 150 individuals from twelve populations and 530 bp of nuclear (PEPCK) sequence sampled for a subset of 30 individuals. Using Bayesian inference, we estimate ancestral location states in the gene trees, which in turn are used to infer the most likely order of recolonization under a model of sequential founder events from a massif de refuge from the mitochondrial data. We test for the paraphyly expected under this model and for reciprocal monophyly predicted by a contrasting model of prolonged persistence of nunatak populations. We find that (i) only three populations are incompatible with the paraphyly of the massif de refuge model, (ii) both mitochondrial and nuclear data support separate refugial origins for populations on the western and eastern ends of the northern ridge, and (iii) mitochondrial node ages suggest persistence on the northern ridge for part of the last ice age. PMID:21073591

The suggestion that the glaciation events of the Neoproterozoic could have been global in extent, so-called "snowball" glaciations, during which the oceans were entirely covered by sea ice and the continents by massive continental ice sheets, is an idea tha is recurrent in the geological and climate dynamics literature. It is an idea that haa both critics and defenders but concensus concerning it's plausiblity has yet to emerge. Previous work on this problem has led to the suggestion that a more likely scenario than the "hard snowball" is one in which open water continues to persist at the equator, thus enabling biological evolution into the Cambrian to proceed, perhaps stimulated by the transition from the cold conditions of the Neoproterozoic to the warm condition of the Cambrian, thus leading to the Cambrian "explosion of life". We will discuss recent extensions of our previous efforts to model the extreme climate of the Neoproterozoic, using both the University of Toronto Glacial Systems Model and the NCAR Community Climate System Model. With an appropriate choice for the albedo of sea ice, the former model conntinues to deliver hysteresis in the surface temperature vs. CO2 concentration space when solar luminosity is reduced by 6% below modern, and thus continues to suggest the existence of the previously hypothesized "CO2 attractor". We argue here that the system could be locked onto this attractor by the strong "out of equilibrium" effects of the carbon cycle recently discussed by Rothman et al. (PNAS, 2003). The open water solution is confirmed as the preferred mode of the system by the detailed CCSM integrations that we have performed.

Atmospheric CO2 abundances are highly correlated with global temperature variations over the past 800,000 years. Consequently, understanding the feedbacks between climate and CO2 is important for predictions of future climate. Leading hypotheses to explain this feedback invoke changes in ocean biology, circulation, chemistry, and/or gas exchange rates to trap CO2 in the deep ocean, thereby reducing the greenhouse effect of CO2 in the atmosphere. To test these hypotheses, we use sediment pore water profiles of dissolved nitrate and oxygen to reconstruct paleo-preformed nitrate concentrations at two deep-water sites in the western North Atlantic (23°N 57°W, 5557 m water depth; 30°N 58°W, 5367 m water depth). Preformed nitrate increases down-core to 22.7 μM (25.6 m core depth) at the northern site, and to 28.5 μM (27.8 m core depth) at the southern site. The large preformed nitrate gradient between these sites reveals a paleo-boundary between a southern water source high in preformed nitrate and a northern water source with lower concentrations, similar to today's ocean. However, the boundary between these water masses occurs north of where their modern counterparts meet, indicating that Antarctic Bottom Water (AABW) extended farther north during the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM). In addition, the southern source had a higher preformed nitrate concentration than today's AABW (25 μM), contradicting hypotheses that nutrient utilization was more efficient in the Southern Ocean deep-water formation regions during the LGM. Comparison to our previous Pacific data reveals that the average preformed nitrate concentration of the deep ocean was slightly higher during the LGM than today. This result implies that the CO2-climate feedback was not principally due to more efficient nitrate utilization.

It seems counterintuitive that chemical erosion in glaciated regions proceeds at rates comparable to those of temperate catchments with comparable specific runoff (Anderson et al., 1997). All the usual factors that are associated with elevated rates of chemical weathering ( Drever, 1988, 1994), such as water, soil, and vegetation, are either entirely absent or absent for much of the year. For example, glaciated regions are largely frozen for significant periods each year, the residence time of liquid water in the catchment is low ( Knight, 1999), there are thin, skeletal soils at best, and vegetation is either absent or limited ( French, 1997). Other chapters in this volume have highlighted how these factors are important in other, more temperate and tropical environments. Even so, chemical erosion rates in glaciated terrain are usually near to or greater than the continental average ( Sharp et al., 1995; Wadham et al., 1997; Hodson et al., 2000). This is because glaciated catchments usually have high specific runoff, there are high concentrations of freshly comminuted rock flour, which is typically silt sized and coated with microparticles, and adsorbed organic matter or surface precipitates that may hinder water-rock interactions are largely absent ( Tranter, 1982). In short, the rapid flow of water over fine-grained, recently crushed, reactive mineral surfaces maximizes both the potential rates of chemical weathering and chemical erosion.A range of both lab- and field-based studies of glacial chemical weathering have been undertaken, mainly on the smaller glaciers of Continental Europe (e.g., Brown et al., 1993a, b), Svalbard (e.g., Hodson et al., 2002), and North America (e.g., Anderson et al., 2000). The field-based studies typically generate hydrographs of glacier runoff, which show a characteristic diurnal cycle during summer in low latitudes ( Figure 1), and more subdued diurnal cycles at high latitudes (Figure 2 and Figure 3). The concentration of ions in

Travellers in Ireland continue to experience health disparity, cultural fragmentation and a lack of visibility in health service provision. This paper reports on a pilot study exploring factors that affect Traveller health and the experiences of primary care services from the perspectives of key Traveller health stakeholders in Ireland. The study was designed as an initial consultative forum using a single focus group (n = 13) in order to yield specific recommendations for the development of a designated primary care service framework for Travellers. A thematic analysis of the narratives identified key areas of interest--emerging issues in Traveller health, recognition of Traveller culture and ethnic identity,Traveller uptake of primary care services, the role of the primary health care Traveller (PHCT) worker, and recommendations for a primary care service framework for Travellers in Ireland. The findings highlight the importance of consulting Traveller communities in the design of a primary care service framework within each local needs analysis. The promotion of Traveller advocacy, visible access and referral pathways can therefore be achieved, with PHCT workers acting as a 'bridge' between Travellers and the designated area primary care team. PMID:20503791

European Community (EC) legislation has limited the availability of pesticide active substances used in effective plant protection products. The Pesticide Authorisation Directive 91/414/EEC introduced the principle of risk assessment for approval of pesticide active substances. This principle was modified by the introduction of Regulation (EC) 1107/2009, which applies hazard, the intrinsic toxicity of the active substance, rather than risk, the potential for hazard to occur, as the approval criterion. Potential impacts of EC pesticide legislation on agriculture in Ireland are summarised. While these will significantly impact on pesticide availability in the medium to long term, regulations associated with water quality (Water Framework Directive 2000/60/EC and Drinking Water Directive 1998/83/EC) have the potential to restrict pesticide use more immediately, as concerns regarding public health and economic costs associated with removing pesticides from water increase. This rationale will further reduce the availability of effective pesticide active substances, directly affecting crop protection and increasing pesticide resistance within pest and disease populations. In addition, water quality requirements may also impact on important active substances used in plant protection in Ireland. The future challenge for agriculture in Ireland is to sustain production and profitability using reduced pesticide inputs within a framework of integrated pest management. PMID:24753219

In his presidential address to the Belfast meeting of the British Association for the Advancement of Science in 1874, John Tyndall launched what David Livingstone has called a 'frontal assault on teleology and Christian theism'. Using Tyndall's intervention as a starting point, this paper seeks to understand the attitudes of Presbyterians in the north of Ireland to science in the first three-quarters of the nineteenth century. The first section outlines some background, including the attitude of Presbyterians to science in the eighteenth century, the development of educational facilities in Ireland for the training of Presbyterian ministers, and the specific cultural and political circumstances in Ireland that influenced Presbyterian responses to science more generally. The next two sections examine two specific applications by Irish Presbyterians of the term 'science': first, the emergence of a distinctive Presbyterian theology of nature and the application of inductive scientific methodology to the study of theology, and second, the Presbyterian conviction that mind had ascendancy over matter which underpinned their commitment to the development of a science of the mind. The final two sections examine, in turn, the relationship between science and an eschatological reading of the signs of the times, and attitudes to Darwinian evolution in the fifteen years between the publication of The Origin of Species in 1859 and Tyndall's speech in 1874. PMID:19391418

Toxic and non-toxic Pseudo-nitzschia blooms are common in coastal waters worldwide including Ireland. Off southwest Ireland, the timing of blooms on a weekly scale is highly variable, while the seasonal pattern is more regular with a bimodal distribution. Upwelling conditions are closely linked to Pseudo-nitzschia blooms. The work presented here describes a mathematical model, a Zero-Inflated Negative Binomial Model, employed to forecast the onset, abundance and duration of Pseudo-nitzschia blooms in the bays of southwest Ireland. Variables used in the model included field observations of Pseudo-nitzschia, sea surface temperature and wind. The estimated model reveals that, on average, cell levels on a given day depend on sea surface temperature, the value of a wind index on the previous day and the number of Pseudo-nitzschia in the water the previous week. The model forecast performed well for the onset and duration of blooms. However, the magnitude of blooms was sometimes underestimated by the model.

Much of northern US is mantled by Pleistocene glacial drift consisting of heterogeneous deposits of fine to coarse-textured sediments. Hazardous waste site investigations in glacial settings can often present unique design and implementation considerations. Complex glacial stratigraphy encountered during drilling activities demands flexibility built into work plans to allow for field decisions based on field conditions. Continuous cores should be collected from boreholes on a routine basis for stratigraphic purposes with particular importance assigned to field identification of relative permeabilities of stratigraphic units. Selection of appropriate field screening methodology should be based on site conditions. Utilization of open borehole groundwater sampling is recommended for fine-textured glacial settings where soil gas and well point sampling are ineffective. Installation of boreholes allows for collection of stratigraphic information and enables more surface area exposed beneath the water table for groundwater recharge and sampling. Water level determinations can be made on open boreholes for an initial assessment of the horizontal direction of groundwater flow. Placement of screens for monitoring wells should be based on field determination of likely groundwater flow paths. Nested wells are necessary to define the vertical groundwater flow system at most sites. Evaluation of the vertical flow system can often dominate site investigations in fine-textured glacial terrain. Two case studies from Iowa illustrate the usefulness of incorporating the above considerations in planning and implementing in fine-textured glacial sediments. Field investigations utilizing open borehole groundwater sampling successfully delineated site glacial geology and hydrogeology for determination of the nature and extent of groundwater contamination and better located the horizontal and vertical placement of monitoring wells.

Δ14Catm has been estimated at 420 ± 80‰ (INTCAL09) during the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) compared to preindustrial times (0‰), but mechanisms explaining this difference are not yet resolved. Δ14Catm is a function of cosmogenic production in high atmosphere and of carbon cycling in the Earth system (through carbon exchange with the superficial reservoirs, ocean and continental biosphere). 10Be-based reconstructions show a contribution of the cosmogenic production term of only 200 ± 200‰ at the LGM. The remaining 220‰ of Δ14Catm variation between the LGM and preindustrial times have thus to be explained by changes in the carbon cycle. Recently, Bouttes et al. (2010) proposed to explain most of the difference in atmospheric pCO2 between glacial and interglacial times by brine-induced ocean stratification in the Southern Ocean. This mechanism involves the formation of very saline water masses that can store Dissolved Inorganic Carbon (DIC) in the deep ocean. During glacial times, the sinking of brines is enhanced and more DIC is stored in the deep ocean, lowering atmospheric pCO2. Such an isolated ocean reservoir would be characterized by a low Δ14C signature. Evidence of such 14C-depleted deep waters during the LGM has recently been found in the Southern Ocean (Skinner et al., 2010). The degassing of this carbon with low Δ14C would then reduce Δ14Catm throughout the deglaciation. We have further developed the CLIMBER-2 model to include a cosmogenic production of 14C as well as an interactive atmospheric 14C reservoir. We investigate the role of both sinking of brines and cosmogenic production, alongside iron and vertical diffusion mechanisms to explain changes in Δ14Catm during the last deglaciation. In our simulations, not only the sinking of brine mechanism is consistent with past Δ14C data but also it explains most of the differences in atmospheric pCO2 and Δ14C between LGM and preindustrial times.

In Northern Ireland, as elsewhere in Europe, attempts to reduce the societal impacts of severe convective storms are constrained by underestimations in frequency and intensity of extreme events within the present-day climate regime. Such underestimations also present difficulties in estimating probabilities of extreme storm frequency and intensity in relation to future climate change scenarios. Detailed analyses of past extreme events enhance the robustness of hydrometeorological and climatological models, and improve human perception of the true nature of present climate. In Northern Ireland, extensive thunderstorm development is infrequent due to relatively low relief and limited severe convectional activity in summer. On 25-26 July 1985 extensive thunderstorm activity occurred accompanied by hailstones 3 cm in diameter, some of the largest on record to fall over the Province. The event predates operation of the Northern Ireland component of the UK rainfall radar network. Nevertheless, utilizing quality-controlled autographic rain gauge records and radiosonde data, the synoptic situation was examined and the mesoscale precipitation signatures determined throughout the duration of thunderstorm activity. Within the cyclonic circulation covering Northern Ireland for much of the day, potential instability existed at three levels and on release the buoyant upward motion resulted in clouds of more than 11 km in depth. While upland areas recorded 30 to 50 mm, the greatest precipitation totals of up to 85 mm were received in lowland areas around Lough Neagh. Several lowland sites recorded rainfall totals and intensities with frequencies of about 1 in 100 years. Significant thunderstorm activity occurred over a period of 11 h and resulted in serious flooding. Observed mesoscale precipitation patterns displayed limited evidence of orographic enhancement within the moist southeast to south airflow. At best, orography assisted in terms of initial uplift, but thereafter

Elderly women of a particular socioecological system are considered to be "living encyclopedias" in biocultural knowledge systems. These women play a pivotal role in retaining and passing on biodiversity-related traditional knowledge to the next generations. Unfortunately the fast changing sociocultural values and the impact of modernity have rendered their knowledge somewhat less valuable and they are being treated as "cultural refugia." Our study on the importance of these women in the conservation of indigenous biodiversity was conducted in 14 randomly selected villages dominated by the Adi tribe of East Siang District, Arunachal Pradesh (northeast India). Data were collected from 531 women (381 elderly and 150 young to middle aged) during 2003-2008 using conventional social science methods and participatory rural appraisal. One innovative method, namely "recipe contest," was devised to mobilize Adi women of each village in order to energies them and explore their knowledge relating to traditional foods, ethnomedicines, and conservation of indigenous biodiversity. Results indicated that 55 plant species are being used by elderly Adi women in their food systems, while 34 plant species are integral parts of ethnomedicinal practices. These women identified different plant species found under multistory canopies of community forests. Elderly women were particularly skilled in preparing traditional foods including beverages and held significantly greater knowledge of indigenous plants than younger women. Lifelong experiences and cultural diversity were found to influence the significance of biodiversity use and conservation. The conservation of biodiversity occurs in three different habitats: jhum lands (shifting cultivation), Morang forest (community managed forests), and home gardens. The knowledge and practice of elderly women about habitats and multistory vegetations, regenerative techniques, selective harvesting, and cultivation practices contribute

Elderly women of a particular socioecological system are considered to be "living encyclopedias" in biocultural knowledge systems. These women play a pivotal role in retaining and passing on biodiversity-related traditional knowledge to the next generations. Unfortunately the fast changing sociocultural values and the impact of modernity have rendered their knowledge somewhat less valuable and they are being treated as "cultural refugia." Our study on the importance of these women in the conservation of indigenous biodiversity was conducted in 14 randomly selected villages dominated by the Adi tribe of East Siang District, Arunachal Pradesh (northeast India). Data were collected from 531 women (381 elderly and 150 young to middle aged) during 2003-2008 using conventional social science methods and participatory rural appraisal. One innovative method, namely "recipe contest," was devised to mobilize Adi women of each village in order to energies them and explore their knowledge relating to traditional foods, ethnomedicines, and conservation of indigenous biodiversity. Results indicated that 55 plant species are being used by elderly Adi women in their food systems, while 34 plant species are integral parts of ethnomedicinal practices. These women identified different plant species found under multistory canopies of community forests. Elderly women were particularly skilled in preparing traditional foods including beverages and held significantly greater knowledge of indigenous plants than younger women. Lifelong experiences and cultural diversity were found to influence the significance of biodiversity use and conservation. The conservation of biodiversity occurs in three different habitats: jhum lands (shifting cultivation), Morang forest (community managed forests), and home gardens. The knowledge and practice of elderly women about habitats and multistory vegetations, regenerative techniques, selective harvesting, and cultivation practices contribute

An ability to explain and predict the paleoclimatic cycles is one of necessary conditions for reliable predictions of future climate without and with anthropogenic forcing. Here, we solved a big puzzle. Quaternary glacial cycles, as represented by climate proxy data of benthic δ18O, can be divided into four typical periods (TP) with four characteristic points (CP). The cyclic sequence of them goes in the following order: (1) Onset point of glacial termination, (2) Glacial termination period, (3) Zip point of glacial termination, (4) Inter-glacial period, (5) Inception point of glaciations, (6) Period for glacial maturation, (7) Glacial maximum point, and (8) Period for glacial hibernation. The glacial termination (GT) is a swift transition period of about 6,500 years only. A precise prediction of its onset point is a great challenge to the theorem of orbital-forcing that is being developed since Milankovitch. We consider the climate system as a stack of heat capacitors that get warmed up by absorbing part of the insolation and cooled down via gray-body radiation. Part of the insolation is transformed into chemical energy through photosynthesis (CETP) and eventually gets accumulated in the clathrate hydrate (CH) in seawater. We found that, during the last 1.7 million years, every Onset point of GT falls in a very precise time-window defined with three conditions: (1) the eccentricity (E) of Earth’s orbit is increasing, (2) the obliquity (T) is also increasing, and (3) the phase angle of precession (P) falls between 7π/8 and 5π/4. The CETP is converted into sensible heat via oxidation of gases released from dissociated CH. The dissociation of CH depends on its floating level and dissociating level. Those levels are controlled by seawater temperature and the density of CH. The Zip point of GT comes when the average temperature of seawater at 150 m depth is about 18 C, which is mostly influenced by the H2S in the CH. We define the Inception point of glaciations as

Pilosocereus machrisii and P. aurisetus are cactus species within the P. aurisetus complex, a group of eight cacti that are restricted to rocky habitats within the Neotropical savannas of eastern South America. Previous studies have suggested that diversification within this complex was driven by distributional fragmentation, isolation leading to allopatric differentiation, and secondary contact among divergent lineages. These events have been associated with Quaternary climatic cycles, leading to the hypothesis that the xerophytic vegetation patches which presently harbor these populations operate as refugia during the current interglacial. However, owing to limitations of the standard phylogeographic approaches used in these studies, this hypothesis was not explicitly tested. Here we use Approximate Bayesian Computation to refine the previous inferences and test the role of different events in the diversification of two species within P. aurisetus group. We used molecular data from chloroplast DNA and simple sequence repeats loci of P. machrisii and P. aurisetus, the two species with broadest distribution in the complex, in order to test if the diversification in each species was driven mostly by vicariance or by long-dispersal events. We found that both species were affected primarily by vicariance, with a refuge model as the most likely scenario for P. aurisetus and a soft vicariance scenario most probable for P. machrisii. These results emphasize the importance of distributional fragmentation in these species, and add support to the hypothesis of long-term isolation in interglacial refugia previously proposed for the P. aurisetus species complex diversification. PMID:27071846

It is a widely held assumption that populations historically restricted to mountain refugia tend to exhibit high levels of genetic diversity and deep coalescent histories, whereas populations distributed in surrounding low-lying regions tend to be genetically depauperate following recent expansion from refugia. These predicted genetic patterns are based largely on our understanding of glaciation history in Northern Hemisphere systems, yet remain poorly tested in analogous Southern Hemisphere arid systems because few examples in the literature allow the comparison of widespread taxa distributed across mountain and desert biomes. We demonstrate with multiple datasets from Australian geckos that topographically complex mountain regions harbor high nucleotide diversity, up to 18 times higher than that of the surrounding desert lowlands. We further demonstrate that taxa in topographically complex areas have older coalescent histories than those in the geologically younger deserts, and that both ancient and more recent aridification events have contributed to these patterns. Our results show that, despite differences in the details of climate and landscape changes that occurred in the Northern and Southern hemispheres (ice-sheets versus aridification), similar patterns emerge that illustrate the profound influence of the Pleistocene on contemporary genetic structure. PMID:21871574

Micromorphology has recently been applied more in analyzing glacial sediments at a microscopic level. It provides additional information and details that may help to explain glacial processes in areas where macro- scale observations cannot yield sufficient information. However, the process of interpreting thin sections has been very subjective, and reaching general consensus about glacial processes is difficult. Remote sensing technology is increasingly helpful in the development and advancement of many sciences; the concepts that lie behind the technology in object cognition used in other fields, such as landscape ecology, can be applied to micromorphology. Similar to what has been done to landscape ecology in the past, automating the process of interpreting objects in glacial sediments may potentially simplify and decrease the subjectivity of the process. Definiens Professional 5 is an object-based image analysis program that imitates human cognitive methods; it is used in this study to identify objects apart from background matrices in multiple thin section images of glacial sediments. The program's initial results proved that more work was needed to be done for better results, but overall the software produced promising results. The method is repeatable and continues to generate consistent results with no bias or ambiguity, so the application of this method to micromorphology and other areas alike will be valuable.

The 100,000-year timescale in the glacial/interglacial cycles of the late Pleistocene epoch (the past approximately 700,000 years) is commonly attributed to control by variations in the Earth's orbit. This hypothesis has inspired models that depend on the Earth's obliquity (approximately 40,000 yr; approximately 40 kyr), orbital eccentricity (approximately 100 kyr) and precessional (approximately 20 kyr) fluctuations, with the emphasis usually on eccentricity and precessional forcing. According to a contrasting hypothesis, the glacial cycles arise primarily because of random internal climate variability. Taking these two perspectives together, there are currently more than thirty different models of the seven late-Pleistocene glacial cycles. Here we present a statistical test of the orbital forcing hypothesis, focusing on the rapid deglaciation events known as terminations. According to our analysis, the null hypothesis that glacial terminations are independent of obliquity can be rejected at the 5% significance level, whereas the corresponding null hypotheses for eccentricity and precession cannot be rejected. The simplest inference consistent with the test results is that the ice sheets terminated every second or third obliquity cycle at times of high obliquity, similar to the original proposal by Milankovitch. We also present simple stochastic and deterministic models that describe the timing of the late-Pleistocene glacial terminations purely in terms of obliquity forcing. PMID:15791252

Calving of ice is a relatively new area of research in the still young field of glaciology. In the short time that calving has been studied, it has been mainly treated as an afterthought, with the predominant mode of thinking being that it will happen so to concern oneself with why is not important. Many studies dealt with observations of calving front positions over time vs. ice velocity in an attempt to quantify the calving rate as the difference between the two, while others have attempted to deduce some empirical relationship between calving rate and variables such as water depth or temperature. This study instead addresses the question of why, where, and when ice will first become crevassed, which is an obviously necessary condition for a later calving event to occur. Previous work examining the causes of calving used ideas put forth from a variety of fields, including civil engineering, materials science, and results from basic physics and mechanics. These theories are re-examined here and presented as part of a larger whole. Important results from the field of fracture mechanics are utilized frequently, and these results can be used as a predictor of ice behavior and intrinsic properties of ice, as well as properties like back stresses induced by local pinning points and resistive shears along glacial ice boundaries. A theory of fracture for a material experiencing creep is also presented with applications to ice shelves and crevasse penetration. Finally, a speculative theory regarding large scale iceberg formation is presented. It is meant mainly as an impetus to further discussion on the topic, with the hope that a model relating crevasse geometries to flow parameters can result in crevasse spacings that could produce the tabular icebergs which are so newsworthy. The primary focus of this thesis is to move away from the "after the fact" studies that are so common in calving research, and instead devote energy to determining what creates the conditions that

One of the most fundamental insights for understanding how landscapes evolve is based on determining the extent to which topography was shaped by glaciers or by rivers. More than 104 years after the last major glaciation the topography of mountain ranges worldwide remains dominated by characteristic glacial landforms such as U-shaped valleys, but an understanding of the persistence of such landforms is lacking. Here we use digital topographic data to analyse valley shapes at sites worldwide to demonstrate that the persistence of U-shaped valleys is controlled by the erosional response to tectonic forcing. Our findings indicate that glacial topography in Earth's most rapidly uplifting mountain ranges is rapidly replaced by fluvial topography and hence valley forms do not reflect the cumulative action of multiple glacial periods, implying that the classic physiographic signature of glaciated landscapes is best expressed in, and indeed limited by, the extent of relatively low-uplift terrain. PMID:26271245

The local last glacial maximum in the tropical Andes was earlier and less extensive than previously thought, based on 106 cosmogenic ages (from beryllium-10 dating) from moraines in Peru and Bolivia. Glaciers reached their greatest extent in the last glacial cycle approximately 34,000 years before the present and were retreating by approximately 21,000 years before the present, implying that tropical controls on ice volumes were asynchronous with those in the Northern Hemisphere. Our estimates of snowline depression reflect about half the temperature change indicated by previous widely cited figures, which helps resolve the discrepancy between estimates of terrestrial and marine temperature depression during the last glacial cycle. PMID:15860623

One of the most fundamental insights for understanding how landscapes evolve is based on determining the extent to which topography was shaped by glaciers or by rivers. More than 10(4) years after the last major glaciation the topography of mountain ranges worldwide remains dominated by characteristic glacial landforms such as U-shaped valleys, but an understanding of the persistence of such landforms is lacking. Here we use digital topographic data to analyse valley shapes at sites worldwide to demonstrate that the persistence of U-shaped valleys is controlled by the erosional response to tectonic forcing. Our findings indicate that glacial topography in Earth's most rapidly uplifting mountain ranges is rapidly replaced by fluvial topography and hence valley forms do not reflect the cumulative action of multiple glacial periods, implying that the classic physiographic signature of glaciated landscapes is best expressed in, and indeed limited by, the extent of relatively low-uplift terrain. PMID:26271245

A glacial geologic interpretation was recently presented for Argyre, which is herein extended to Hellas. This glacial event is believed to constitute an important link in a global cryohydric epoch of Middle Amazonian age. At glacial maximum, ice apparently extended far beyond the regions of Argyre and Hellas, and formed what is termed as the Austral Ice Sheet, an agglomeration of several ice domes and lobes including the Hellas Lobe. It is concluded that Hellas was apparently heavily glaciated. Also glaciation was young by Martian standards (Middle Amazonian), and ancient by terrestrial standards. Glaciation appears to have occurred during the same period that other areas on Mars were experiencing glaciation and periglacial activity. Glaciation seems to have occurred as a geological brief epoch of intense geomorphic activity in an era characterized by long periods of relative inactivity.

Cirques are usually considered as specific landforms of hill and mountain terrains produced by alpine glaciers, and/or slope failures (landslides). However, glacial cirques seem to be present also in non-mountainous terrains that underwent extensive Pleistocene ice-sheet glaciations and strong glacial and fluvio-glacial erosion. The largest form in the Baltic region is Severoladozhsky (North Lake Ladoga) cirque, probably the world's largest representative, with the length and width close to 100 km. Another example is the deepest Landsort basin of the Baltic Sea. In those cases Meso-Neoproterozoic sediments were subject to selected erosion, with evident overdeepening of the bedrock surface in comparison with surrounding crystalline frame. The bowl headwall shape of the cirque-like landforms was determined by the outline of the margin of exhumed basin. The origin of the major basins of margins of the Baltic and Canadian shields are similar. However, direct analogues of giant cirques are not well developed in this part of North America due to geological deviations and dominant directions of ice movement. Comparable landforms (like the South Chippewa basin of the Lake Michigan) are therefore less mature. We define glacial cirque as an amphitheatre-shape depression with comparable values of length and width, steep headwall with adjacent side slopes and gentle lip with commonly increased glacial accumulation. They are usually located within an ice stream that created typical relief profile with normal horseshoe overdeepening, and in areas predefined by geological and geomorphological peculiarities. This definition likely fits both classic mountain cirques, and giant ones created in favorable conditions in domains that underwent extensive glaciations and relevant selective glacial erosion. Length/width ratio typical for giant cirques group is close to 1:1, being comparable with classical alpine ones. Major differences (like length/height ratio of other order and possible

The Himalaya has one of the largest concentration of glaciers and rivers like Indus, Ganga and Bramhputra originate from this region. The snow and glacier melt is an important source of water for these rivers. However, this source of water may get affected in the near future due to changes in the cryosphere. Therefore, retreat of Himalayan glaciers are discussed extensively in scientific and public forums in India. Conventionally health of glaciers is assessed using changes in glacial length, as it is widely measured. However changes in glacial length and loss in areal extent near terminus needs to be interpreted carefully, as these changes can be influenced by numerous terrain and climatically sensitive parameters. The terrain parameters which can influence glacial retreat are slope, area altitude distribution, debris cover and orientation. In addition, climatically sensitive parameters like mass balance, glacial lakes and black carbon can also influence glacier retreat. These multiple influences can produce a complex pattern of glacial retreat. In this paper long-term glacier retreat in three river basins in the Indian Himalaya as Tista, Baspa and Parbati will be discussed. These basins are located in different climatically sensitive regions and each basin has unique dominant process of mass wasting. In addition to terrain parameters, influence of process like formation and expansion of moraine dammed lakes in Tista basin, deposition of black carbon on accumulation area in Baspa basin and debris cover in Parbati basin will also be discussed. This will provide understanding on varying influence of different mass wasting processes on glacial retreat during last five decades in the Indian Himalaya.

Nutrient availability limits primary production in large sectors of the world's oceans. Iron is the major limiting nutrient in around one third of the oceanic euphotic zone, most significantly in the Southern Ocean proximal to Antarctica. In these areas the availability of bioavailable iron can influence the amount of primary production, and thus the strength of the biological pump and associated carbon drawdown from the atmosphere. Despite experiencing widespread iron limitation, the Polar oceans are among the most productive on Earth. Due to the extreme cold, remoteness and their perceived "stasis", ice sheets have previously been though of as insignificant in global biogeochemical cycles. However, large marine algal blooms have been observed in iron-limited areas where glacial influence is large, and it is possible that these areas are stimulated by glacial bioavailable iron input. Here we discuss the importance of the Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets in the global iron cycle. Using field collected trace element data, bulk meltwater chemistry and mineralogical analysis, including photomicrographs, EELS and XANES, we present, for the first time, a conceptual model of the glacial iron cycle from source to export. Using this data we discuss the sources of iron in glacial meltwater, transportation and alteration through the glacial system, and subsequent export to downstream environments. Data collected in 2012 and 2013 from two different Greenlandic glacial catchments are shown, with the most detailed breakdown of iron speciation and concentrations in glacial areas yet reported. Furthermore, the first data from Greenlandic icebergs is presented, allowing meltwater-derived and iceberg-derived iron export to be compared, and the influence of both in marine productivity to be estimated. Using our conceptual model and flux estimates from our dataset, glacial iron delivery in both the northern and southern hemisphere is discussed. Finally, we compare our flux

In the context of Ireland's changing demographics, this paper explores the importance of pedagogic research in informing both philosophies and pedagogical practices in Initial Teacher Education (ITE) which endeavours to facilitate student teachers' engagement with the teaching and learning process in Ireland's multicultural classrooms. By…

This article explores the connections between official contemporary identity formation and colonial pasts. Using the case studies of India and Ireland the article explores how different traditions of theorisation are powerful in these formations. India and Ireland were two colonial domains that had many linkages outside the ambit of the British.…

Ireland is in the grip of a postmodern cultural deconstruction on many levels. The traditional "grand narratives" are increasingly viewed with suspicion and disenchantment as Ireland struggles to understand its evolving identity. There is a growing need for comprehensive interdisciplinary research that will facilitate teaching and learning in this…

According to the GEM Ireland Report (2009), those who have exposure to entrepreneurship education in Ireland have an increased propensity to start a new venture. The importance of entrepreneurial skills was picked up by the European Union which, in its Lisbon Strategy of March 2000, declared its objective of transforming Europe into the most…

Recent years have seen an increased focus on school accountability in Ireland and calls for greater use to be made of student achievement data for monitoring student outcomes. In this paper, it is argued that existing data-sets in Ireland offer limited potential for the value-added modelling approaches used for accountability purposes in many…

In line with the principles of the Bologna Process, teacher education systems across Europe are converging along a common path. Taking the Republic of Ireland (Ireland) as a case study, this paper examines the European agenda in relation to teacher education and asks how individual nation states are coping with the demands of greater comparability…

Growing secularisation of the population and the arrival of new culturally and religiously diverse migrants are posing new challenges to schools in the Republic of Ireland (Ireland). These challenges are particularly acute in Irish primary schools, the majority of which are under Catholic patronage. Recent changes have necessitated an extensive…

Ethnically, Ireland has diversified greatly over the past few years. According to the 2006 census, 419733 foreign nationals live in Ireland. Immigration is one of the one of the most stressful events a child can undergo; it involves profound changes, including a disruption of well-established relationships and acculturation. Since the…

This study examined the changing content of history textbooks in Northern Ireland, drawing on a sample of 15 textbooks published from 1968 to 2010. Findings from the content and narrative analysis indicated that following the introduction of the Northern Ireland Curriculum in 1991, history textbooks shifted from a narrative to source-driven…

One of the central aims of the police reform process in Northern Ireland has been to increase the legitimacy of the policing structures and police officers amongst those who are served and policed by the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI). To meet this aim, structures have been created to ensure that the PSNI is accountable to all sections…

In a larger study carried out by O'Sullivan "et al." to explore the perceptions and experiences of teachers in the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland who were engaged in continuing professional development (CPD), one of the significant findings to emerge was the key role of teacher motivation. The current study therefore focuses on…

This paper compares the founding of the elementary school systems of Ireland and Ontario in the nineteenth century. The systems shared a common set of textbooks that had originated in Ireland. Using examples from a number of these books, which were part of a series that had been specially prepared for the Irish national school system, founded in…

This paper seeks to obtain the views of student teachers in Northern Ireland as to the benefits and challenges of inclusive education and the key issues that may need to be addressed to ensure they become effective teachers in an inclusive classroom. Because of the system of academic selection that has prevailed in Northern Ireland, issues…

With the imminent passing of the Special Educational Needs and Disabilities Act (SENDA) into law in Northern Ireland, along with changes to the curriculum and the planned move away from academic selection for post-primary pupils in 2008, the education system in Northern Ireland is about to embrace radical change. Inclusion has now become one of…

A photojournalism project is described in this paper that integrated the disciplines of photography, archaeology, and ethnology in an examination of prehistoric megalithic monuments in Ireland and their folklore. Following an introduction tracing the history of the monuments and pointing to the maintenance in Ireland of a body of oral tradition…

The purpose of this study is to evaluate the implications of Media Literacy Education (MLE) in Turkey by analyzing the Primary School Curricula in terms of MLE comparatively in Turkey, Ireland and Finland. In this study, the selection of Finland and Ireland curricula is related with those countries' being the pioneering countries in MLE and the…

The Bamford Review of Mental Health and Learning Disability (Northern Ireland) was established in October 2002 to examine all aspects of the law, policy and provisions that affect people with mental health needs or a learning disability in Northern Ireland. Its report "A Comprehensive Legislative Framework," which deals with the reform of law in…

As more students with special educational needs attend mainstream schools, it is critical that the role and operation of special schools be examined. This article reports on two case studies, one special school in England and one in Ireland, which formed part of a national review of the role of special schools and special classes in Ireland. Two…

Drawing upon the writings of Maxine Greene and Paolo Freire, this article explores the necessary conditions for the advancement of education for democracy in the context of modern post-industrial societies, with a focus on schooling in the Republic of Ireland. The article charts a general topography of the Republic of Ireland in relation to the…

This paper represents analysis of one aspect of a larger research project examining the everyday lives and experiences of young women in Northern Ireland. As an introductory exercise within focus groups, 48 young women considered and discussed the good and not so good things about being a young woman in Northern Ireland. Through these accounts…

This study provides an analysis of the economic impact of Queen's University Belfast and its students on the Northern Ireland economy. Based in the City of Belfast, the university has over 22,500 students. Its turnover of nearly £290 million makes it Northern Ireland's largest university in terms of its financial standing. With origins going back…

Life expectancy in Northern Ireland continues to increase and it is expected that mortality due to heart disease, stroke and some cancers will continue to fall. The infant mortality rate, once higher is similar to that of the other UK and European countries. However, in common with neighboring countries, Northern Ireland has low levels of physical…

Analyzes accountability and partnership in Northern Ireland's preservice elementary education, asserting that the real problem with school and teacher education is its segregated nature. Data from key partnership participants indicate that Northern Ireland's teacher education is simultaneously similar to and different from teacher education in the…

Article 12 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child provides for the views of the child to be given due weight in accordance with the child's age and maturity. Legislation in Ireland recognizes the rights of children to have a voice in educational matters. Based on a sample of 2838 14-year-olds in Ireland and using questionnaire…

This paper examines the question of how social well-being, or quality of life, in Northern Ireland has changed through time from 1958 to 1998. After reviewing major economic trends and governmental policy affecting the region, we develop an overall measure of quality of life based on previous research into social well-being in Northern Ireland. We…

We produced a morphological map of the northwestern rim of the Argyre Basin with focus on glacial and periglacial features. We report on features such as gullies, pingo-like forms and glacial remnants which are observed.

Swath bathymetry and high-resolution penetration echo sounder (chirp) data from fjords and sounds between Kong Oscars Fjord and Bredefjord, East Greenland, reveal glacial landforms and sedimentary processes that can be used to infer glacial activity from the last glacial to the present. Relatively straight, linear features oriented parallel to the fjord axes, as well as beyond the mouths of some fjords, are interpreted to be glacial lineations providing evidence of fast-flowing grounded ice draining the eastern parts of the Greenland Ice Sheet during the last glacial. In some areas, the glacial lineations are the only preserved glacigenic landfjorms (e.g. beyond the mouth of Bredefjord). However, in other areas, they are covered with multiple transverse ridges interpreted to be small terminal moraines (e.g. in Youngsund). Whereas the absence of such moraines is suggested to represent a rapid ice retreat due to lift-up and disintegration during parts of the deglaciation, their presence reflects that multiple halts and/or re-advances interrupted the retreat. Acoustically stratified sediment sequences dominate the fjord-fill stratigraphies (up to 180 ms two-way travel time). These deposits are suggested to reflect repeatedly changing lithological compositions in a glacimarine environment where deposition mainly occurred from suspension fall-out, in addition to ice rafting from icebergs calving off from tidewater glaciers, and sea ice. The stratified deposits form often relatively uniform drapes indicating that the tidewater glaciers were mainly located near the fjord heads since the last deglaciation. However, acoustically transparent bodies with irregular geometries, intercalated within the stratified deposits, occur in some of the inner fjords. These are suggested to be glacigenic sediment wedges (debris-flow lobes) that formed during relatively recent advances of tidewater glaciers (e.g. in Nordfjord and Moskusoksefjord).

The Laurentide ice sheet played an important role in the late Pleistocene climate, notably through discharges of icebergs and meltwater. In this context, the Ungava Bay region in northern Quebec-Labrador appears particularly important, especially during the last deglaciation when the retreating ice margin dammed major river valleys, creating large proglacial lakes (e.g., McLean, aux Feuilles). The history of these lakes is closely related to the temporal evolution of the Labrador-Quebec ice dome. There are, however, large uncertainties regarding the position of its ice divide system through time, thereby limiting our understanding of the history of these glacial lakes. Here we focus on glacial and deglacial landforms present in the George River valley, south of Ungava Bay, in order to bring additional constraints on the late-glacial ice dynamics of this region, which also comprised glacial Lake Naskaupi. This work is based on surficial mapping using aerial photos and satellite imagery, combined with extensive fieldwork and sediment sampling. Our investigation showed significant differences in the distribution of glacial landforms across the region. The area east of the George River is characterized by well-developed Naskaupi shorelines while the elevated terrains show a succession of geomorphological features indicative of cold-based ice or ice with low basal velocities. In the easternmost part of this sector, ice flow directional data indicate that the ice was flowing towards ENE, against the regional slope. Eskers show paleocurrent directions indicating a general ice retreat from east to west. In the western part of this sector, near the George River valley, eskers are absent and the region is covered by felsenmeer and ground moraine that likely reflect the presence of a residual ice mass that was no longer dynamic. The presence of a stagnant ice represents the best mechanism to explain the formation of glacial lakes in the George River valley and its main

Citizen science is proving to be an effective tool in tracking the rapid pace at which our environment is changing over large geographic areas. It is becoming increasingly popular, in places such as North America and some European countries, to engage members of the general public and school pupils in the collection of scientific data to support long-term environmental monitoring. Participants in such schemes are generally volunteers and are referred to as citizen scientists. The Christmas bird count in the US is one of the worlds longest running citizen science projects whereby volunteers have been collecting data on birds on a specific day since 1900. Similar volunteer networks in Ireland have been in existence since the 1960s and were established to monitor the number and diversity of birds throughout the country. More recently, initiatives such as Greenwave (2006) and Nature Watch (2009) invite school children and members of the general public respectively, to record phenology data from a range of common species of plant, insect and bird. In addition, the Irish butterfly and bumblebee monitoring schemes engage volunteers to record data on sightings of these species. The primary purpose of all of these networks is to collect data by which to monitor changes in wildlife development and diversity, and in the case of Greenwave to involve children in hands-on, inquiry-based science. Together these various networks help raise awareness of key environmental issues, such as climate change and loss of biodiversity, while at the same time promote development of scientific skills among the general population. In addition, they provide valuable scientific data by which to track environmental change. Here we examine the role of citizen science in monitoring biodiversity in Ireland and conclude that some of the data collected in these networks can be used to fulfil Ireland's statutory obligations for nature conservation. In addition, a bee thought previously to be extinct

Citizen science is proving to be an effective tool in tracking the rapid pace at which our environment is changing over large geographic areas. It is becoming increasingly popular, in places such as North America and some European countries, to engage members of the general public and school pupils in the collection of scientific data to support long-term environmental monitoring. Participants in such schemes are generally volunteers and are referred to as citizen scientists. The Christmas bird count in the US is one of the worlds longest running citizen science projects whereby volunteers have been collecting data on birds on a specific day since 1900. Similar volunteer networks in Ireland have been in existence since the 1960s and were established to monitor the number and diversity of birds throughout the country. More recently, initiatives such as Greenwave (2006) and Nature Watch (2009) invite school children and members of the general public respectively, to record phenology data from a range of common species of plant, insect and bird. In addition, the Irish butterfly and bumblebee monitoring schemes engage volunteers to record data on sightings of these species. The primary purpose of all of these networks is to collect data by which to monitor changes in wildlife development and diversity, and in the case of Greenwave to involve children in hands-on, inquiry-based science. Together these various networks help raise awareness of key environmental issues, such as climate change and loss of biodiversity, while at the same time promote development of scientific skills among the general population. In addition, they provide valuable scientific data by which to track environmental change. Here we examine the role of citizen science in monitoring biodiversity in Ireland and conclude that some of the data collected in these networks can be used to fulfil Ireland's statutory obligations for nature conservation. In addition, a bee thought previously to be extinct